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Peirson's paintbrush

Pitkin Marsh Indian paintbrush, Pitkin Marsh paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 0.6–3(–4) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. Herbs, perennial, 3–5 dm; from a woody caudex; rhizomatous.
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.

several, decumbent proximally and sometimes becoming weakly rhizomatous, becoming ascending to erect, unbranched or often branched proximally, hairs spreading, short and long, soft, mixed eglandular and stipitate-glandular.

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, lanceolate or broadly lanceolate, 3–5 cm, much reduced distally, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes ± wavy, flat, 0-lobed, apex acute to rounded.

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.

10–30 × 3–4 cm;

bracts pale yellow to cream throughout, or proximally pale greenish near base, distally pale yellow to cream, broadly lanceolate, 3-lobed;

lobes ascending, narrowly lanceolate, long, arising near mid length, apex narrowly acute or acuminate.

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.

slightly curved, 22–30 mm;

tube 11–15 mm;

beak partly exserted, adaxially whitish, yellowish, or greenish, 10–15 mm;

abaxial lip green, small, protuberant, 3 mm, ca. 20% as long as beak;

teeth erect to incurved, green, to 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.

colored as bracts, 20–25 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 7–14 mm, ca. 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 5–6 mm, ca. 33% of calyx length;

lobes linear, apex acute, ciliate.

2n

= 24.

Castilleja peirsonii

Castilleja uliginosa

Phenology Flowering Jun–Sep. Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Moist to wet meadows, stream banks, lakeshores, montane to alpine. Margins of wet meadows, marshes, and wet thickets.
Elevation 1700–3400 m. (5600–11200 ft.) 40–60 m. (100–200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
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 uliginosa is endemic to Pitkin Marsh in Sonoma County. It differs from C. miniata by its uniformly pale yellow inflorescences and pubescent stems, as well as by its disjunct, low-elevation habitat. Much of its available habitat was destroyed by development, and it is apparently now extirpated from the wild. It survives in the form of tissue clones from the last wild plant, backcrossed with C. miniata by L. R. Heckard in the 1980s and maintained since then in the greenhouses at the University of California at Berkeley.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 644. FNA vol. 17, p. 662.
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. 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
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. 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) Eastwood: Leafl. W. Bot. 3: 117. (1942)
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