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Peirson's paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 0.6–3(–4) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot.
Stems

few to several, erect or ascending, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs dense distally, less so proximally, spreading, long, soft, eglandular, also mixed with short stipitate-glandular ones distally.

Leaves

green to purple, narrowly to broadly lanceolate to oblong, (0.7–)1.5–4.2(–5) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat or involute, (0–)3(–5)-lobed, apex acuminate;

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

Inflorescences

2.5–7.5(–15) × 1.5–3 cm;

bracts proximally greenish to dull reddish, distally bright red, orange, or pale orange, sometimes yellowish or dull red, broadly lanceolate to oblong, 3–5-lobed;

lobes ascending, linear to lanceolate, ± long, arising above mid length, sometimes below mid length on proximal bracts, central lobe apex acute, rarely narrowly obtuse, lateral ones acute.

Corollas

slightly curved, 15–28 mm;

tube 13–15 mm;

beak exserted, adaxially yellow or yellow-green, 7–8 mm;

abaxial lip yellow or deep green, reduced, slightly inflated, pouched, protruding out abaxial cleft, 1–2.5 mm, 13–33% as long as beak;

teeth erect or curved, yellow or green, 0.7–1 mm.

Calyces

proximally light green or yellow, distally yellow or colored as bracts, 12–20 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 5–9 mm, 40–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral (1.5–)3–5.8 mm, 10–30% of calyx length;

lobes oblong, apex acute to obtuse.

2n

= 24.

Castilleja peirsonii

Phenology Flowering Jun–Sep.
Habitat Moist to wet meadows, stream banks, lakeshores, montane to alpine.
Elevation 1700–3400 m. (5600–11200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Castilleja peirsonii is endemic to the higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada of California and in Tahoe Meadows in adjacent Washoe County, Nevada. Plants with yellow bracts in the southern portion of the range were named C. carterae. Castilleja peirsonii has shorter, wider corolla beaks than the related C. parviflora. In addition to the corolla shape differences, C. peirsonii also has red to yellow bracts and fairly bright yellow corollas, especially on the beaks, while C. parviflora has purple, pink, or white bracts and greenish corolla tubes and dorsal beak surfaces, with the beak margins pink, purple, or white. Reports from outside the Sierra Nevada in California and immediately adjacent Nevada are misidentifications. Castilleja peirsonii sometimes hybridizes with C. lemmonii in meadows where both species often occur in large numbers.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 644.
Parent taxa 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. nivea, C. occidentalis, C. oresbia, C. organorum, C. ornata, C. pallescens, C. pallida, C. parviflora, C. parvula, C. patriotica, C. peckiana, 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
Synonyms C. carterae
Name authority Eastwood: Leafl. W. Bot. 1: 175. (1935) — (as peirsoni)
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