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snow Indian paintbrush, snow paintbrush, snowy paintbrush

sticky Indian paintbrush, sticky paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 0.5–1.6 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. Herbs, perennial, 0.5–3(–4) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot.
Stems

few to several, erect to ascending, decumbent at base, unbranched except for small, leafy axillary shoots, hairs weakly spreading to appressed, ± matted, especially distally on stem, fairly short and sparse proximally, longer and denser distally, soft, eglandular, becoming woolly, often obscuring surface.

several, ascending to erect, decumbent at base, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs spreading, long, soft, mixed with shorter stipitate-glandular ones.

Leaves

gray with hairs, surface green to purple, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1–3.8 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes ± wavy, involute, 0–3-lobed, apex acute;

lobes ascending-spreading, linear to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to obtuse.

green to brown, linear, linear-lanceolate, lanceolate, or oblong (narrowly ovate nearing inflorescence), 1–4(–5) cm, not fleshy, margins wavy, flat or involute, (0–)2(–5)-lobed, apex acute;

lobes ascending-spreading, oblong to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute or obtuse.

Inflorescences

2.5–6 × 1–2.5 cm;

bracts greenish to pale yellow-green or very pale, dull purplish throughout, lanceolate to oblong, (0–)3(–5)-lobed;

lobes usually ascending, linear, medium length to long, arising near mid length, apex acute.

2–14 × 1–3.5 cm;

bracts proximally greenish to greenish brown, distally pale yellow, cream, or yellow-green, sometimes yellow-orange or red (sometimes gradually differentiated from proximal coloration), lanceolate, broadly lanceolate, or oblong, 3(–5)-lobed, proximal wavy-margined;

lobes ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate, long, arising near or above mid length, sometimes wavy-margined, apex acute to rounded.

Corollas

straight, 18–25 mm;

tube 3.5–5.5 mm; subequal to calyx, or beak and sometimes abaxial lip exserted;

beak adaxially yellow, 6–8 mm, hairs moderately long, matted on midline, very short-glandular on sides;

abaxial lip green, inconspicuous, slightly pouched, 3.5–5.5 mm, 60–90% as long as beak;

teeth erect, white or yellow, 0.5–3 mm.

straight, 16–22(–25) mm;

tube 10–15 mm;

beak exserted, straight to sometimes curved, adaxially green to yellow, 5–8(–9) mm;

abaxial lip green or yellow, sometimes deep purple, reduced, inconspicuous, often visible in abaxial cleft, 1–2 mm, 20% as long as beak;

teeth erect, green to white, sometimes yellow or pink, 0.5–1 mm.

Calyces

yellow, color mostly obscured by whitish hairs, 15–22 mm;

abaxial, adaxial, and lateral clefts (5.5–)7–12 mm, 35–55% of calyx length, often appearing shorter because matted hairs stitch proximal part of clefts shut, all 4 clefts subequal;

lobes broadly linear, apex acute.

colored as bracts or proximally paler, (10–)14–18 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts (4–)5–9 mm, 30–40% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral (1–)2–6 mm, ca. 25% of calyx length;

lobes narrowly ovate to lanceolate, linear, or narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to obtuse.

2n

= 24.

= 24, 72.

Castilleja nivea

Castilleja viscidula

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Gravelly slopes and flats, turf and fellfields, mostly alpine. Dry to mesic sagebrush steppes, rocky slopes, ledges, open woodlands, montane to subalpine.
Elevation 1700–3600 m. (5600–11800 ft.) 2000–3200 m. (6600–10500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
MT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ID; NV; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Castilleja nivea is endemic to alpine habitats in the mountains of northwestern Wyoming and adjacent Montana. It forms occasional hybrids with C. pulchella, which often shares its habitat, as on the Beartooth Plateau in northwestern Wyoming.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Castilleja viscidula is a member of the complex including C. applegatei and C. martini, centered in California. Castilleja viscidula favors isolated mountain ranges, from the Wallowa and, possibly, the Blue mountains of northeastern Oregon, eastward into southwestern Idaho, and southward into central Nevada. Most populations are greenish yellow, but in one portion of the Wallowa Mountains, reddish bracted plants are common. Many yellowish bracted populations in the same mountain range surround this reddish population. Intermediate color forms are rarely encountered. Most ranges where C. viscidula occurs have generated slightly differing local races, demonstrating some reproductive isolation and divergence. In addition, hybrid swarms between this species and C. nana are known from several mountain ranges in central and northern Nevada, and an apparent hybrid with C. flava var. flava is known from the Independence Mountains of northern Nevada.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 634. FNA vol. 17, p. 664.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Castilleja Orobanchaceae > Castilleja
Sibling taxa
C. affinis, C. ambigua, C. angustifolia, C. applegatei, C. aquariensis, C. arachnoidea, C. attenuata, C. brevilobata, C. brevistyla, C. campestris, C. cervina, C. chambersii, C. chlorotica, C. christii, C. chromosa, C. chrymactis, C. chrysantha, C. cinerea, C. citrina, C. coccinea, C. collegiorum, C. covilleana, C. crista-galli, C. cryptantha, C. cusickii, C. densiflora, C. dissitiflora, C. disticha, C. elata, C. elegans, C. elmeri, C. exserta, C. flava, C. foliolosa, C. fraterna, C. genevieveana, C. glandulifera, C. gleasoni, C. gracillima, C. grisea, C. haydenii, C. hispida, C. hololeuca, C. hyperborea, C. indivisa, C. integra, C. kaibabensis, C. kerryana, C. kraliana, C. lacera, C. lanata, C. lasiorhyncha, C. lassenensis, C. latifolia, C. lemmonii, C. leschkeana, C. levisecta, C. linariifolia, C. lindheimeri, C. lineariloba, C. lineata, C. litoralis, C. lutescens, C. martini, C. mendocinensis, C. mexicana, C. miniata, C. minor, C. mogollonica, C. mollis, C. montigena, C. nana, C. nelsonii, C. nervata, C. occidentalis, C. oresbia, C. organorum, C. ornata, C. pallescens, C. pallida, C. parviflora, C. parvula, C. patriotica, C. peckiana, C. peirsonii, C. pilosa, C. plagiotoma, C. praeterita, C. pruinosa, C. puberula, C. pulchella, C. purpurascens, C. purpurea, C. raupii, C. revealii, C. rhexiifolia, C. rigida, C. rubicundula, C. rubida, C. rupicola, C. salsuginosa, C. scabrida, C. schizotricha, C. septentrionalis, C. sessiliflora, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tenuiflora, C. tenuis, C. thompsonii, C. tomentosa, C. uliginosa, C. unalaschcensis, C. victoriae, C. viscidula, C. wightii, C. wootonii, C. xanthotricha
C. affinis, C. ambigua, C. angustifolia, C. applegatei, C. aquariensis, C. arachnoidea, C. attenuata, C. brevilobata, C. brevistyla, C. campestris, C. cervina, C. chambersii, C. chlorotica, C. christii, C. chromosa, C. chrymactis, C. chrysantha, C. cinerea, C. citrina, C. coccinea, C. collegiorum, C. covilleana, C. crista-galli, C. cryptantha, C. cusickii, C. densiflora, C. dissitiflora, C. disticha, C. elata, C. elegans, C. elmeri, C. exserta, C. flava, C. foliolosa, C. fraterna, C. genevieveana, C. glandulifera, C. gleasoni, C. gracillima, C. grisea, C. haydenii, C. hispida, C. hololeuca, C. hyperborea, C. indivisa, C. integra, C. kaibabensis, C. kerryana, C. kraliana, C. lacera, C. lanata, C. lasiorhyncha, C. lassenensis, C. latifolia, C. lemmonii, C. leschkeana, C. levisecta, C. linariifolia, C. lindheimeri, C. lineariloba, C. lineata, C. litoralis, C. lutescens, C. martini, C. mendocinensis, C. mexicana, C. miniata, C. minor, C. mogollonica, C. mollis, C. montigena, C. nana, C. nelsonii, C. nervata, C. nivea, C. occidentalis, C. oresbia, C. organorum, C. ornata, C. pallescens, C. pallida, C. parviflora, C. parvula, C. patriotica, C. peckiana, C. peirsonii, C. pilosa, C. plagiotoma, C. praeterita, C. pruinosa, C. puberula, C. pulchella, C. purpurascens, C. purpurea, C. raupii, C. revealii, C. rhexiifolia, C. rigida, C. rubicundula, C. rubida, C. rupicola, C. salsuginosa, C. scabrida, C. schizotricha, C. septentrionalis, C. sessiliflora, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tenuiflora, C. tenuis, C. thompsonii, C. tomentosa, C. uliginosa, C. unalaschcensis, C. victoriae, C. wightii, C. wootonii, C. xanthotricha
Name authority Pennell & Ownbey: Notul. Nat. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 227: 2. (1950) A. Gray: in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 2(1): 297. (1878) — (as Castilleia)
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