Castilleja peirsonii |
Castilleja sessiliflora |
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Peirson's paintbrush |
downy paintedcup, Great Plains Indian paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, 0.6–3(–4) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 1–4 dm; from a branching, 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. |
few to many, ascending to erect, often decumbent at base, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs spreading, sometimes matted, short to medium length, ± soft, eglandular, often with a layer of minute-glandular hairs, sometimes woolly. |
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. |
green to purple, or grayish with dust and hairs, linear to narrowly lanceolate, (1–)2–5(–6) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, (0–)3–5-lobed, apex acuminate to acute; lobes divergent, spreading, 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. |
3–18 × 2.5–6.5 cm; bracts green to purplish throughout, sometimes reddish brown, pink, or lavender throughout, or distally white or pale yellow, sometimes distally dull pink, pink, salmon, orangish, pale pink-orange, buff, or cream, lanceolate, similar to distal leaves, 3(–5)-lobed; lobes spreading, linear-lanceolate, long, arising at or below mid length, apex acute to acuminate, sometimes obtuse. |
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. |
strongly curved distally, 35–55 mm; tube 24–45 mm; abaxial lip, beak, and distal portion of tube exserted; beak adaxially green, yellow, pinkish, purplish, or whitish, 9–15 mm; abaxial lip green, pale green, or purple, protruding, shelflike, 4–8 mm, 50–70% as long as beak; teeth spreading, white, pale yellow, pink, or purple, 3–4 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. |
colored as bracts, sometimes proximally white, 20–40 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 12–20 mm, 40–60% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 5–15 mm, 10–25% of calyx length; lobes linear, apex acute to acuminate. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Castilleja peirsonii |
Castilleja sessiliflora |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Sep. | Flowering (Feb–)Mar–Aug(–Oct). |
Habitat | Moist to wet meadows, stream banks, lakeshores, montane to alpine. | Dry mixed grass and shortgrass prairies, prairie sandhills, sandsage plains, sand prairies, rocky or sandy slopes, bluffs, open forests, or desert scrub, limestone, sandstone, gypsum, granite, other bedrock types. |
Elevation | 1700–3400 m. (5600–11200 ft.) | 0–2300 m. (0–7500 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; NV
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AZ; CO; IA; IL; KS; MN; MO; MT; ND; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; WI; WY; AB; MB; SK; Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas)
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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.) |
Castilleja sessiliflora ranges across the Great Plains from southern Canada to northern Mexico, where it is apparently rare. In Texas and northern Mexico, its range overlaps with the similar C. mexicana. Most populations of C. sessiliflora, especially north of Texas, have white to pale yellow inflorescences; in southwestern Texas they are more variable in color, with pink-purple plants often predominating locally. Those plants with pink-purple inflorescences were named forma purpurina by F. W. Pennell. In the limestone deserts of southern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona, the inflorescences are often a pale pink-orange, but these are intermingled with more typical greenish white plants. Occasional hybrids between C. angustifolia var. dubia and C. sessiliflora are known from northeastern Wyoming. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 644. | FNA vol. 17, p. 657. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. carterae | |
Name authority | Eastwood: Leafl. W. Bot. 1: 175. (1935) — (as peirsoni) | Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 2: 738. (1813) |
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