Castilleja plagiotoma |
Castilleja flava |
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Mojave desert paintbrush, Mojave Indian paintbrush, Mojave paintbrush |
rustic paintbrush, yellow Indian paintbrush, yellow paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, 2.3–5.3(–6) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 1.5–5.5(–7.5) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | ||||
Stems | several, erect to weakly ascending, often leaning on nearby shrubs, much-branched, often with short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs sparse, spreading, short or long, soft, branched or unbranched, eglandular. |
several to many, erect or ascending, often grayish, unbranched or often branched distally, glabrate proximally or hairy, especially distally, rarely glabrous, hairs sparse, spreading to appressed, usually curly, ± short, soft, sometimes mixed with sparse, short stipitate-glandular ones. |
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Leaves | gray-green or green to purple to ± deep red, linear or linear-lanceolate, 2–5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane to ± wavy, flat or involute, 3–5(–7)-lobed, apex acuminate to acute; lobes spreading-ascending, sometimes widely so, narrowly linear, apex acute or obtuse. |
often grayish or purplish, linear to narrowly lanceolate or narrowly oblong, (1–)2.5–5(–6.7) cm, not fleshy, margins plane or wavy, involute, deeply (0–)3–5(–7)-lobed, apex acute to acuminate; lobes divaricate to spreading or ascending, linear, arising at or below mid length, apex acute to acuminate. |
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Inflorescences | 3–20 × 0.5–1.5 cm; bracts green throughout, sometimes tinged dull purple, proximal sometimes linear-lanceolate, distal or all bracts oblong, 3–5(–7)-lobed; lobes spreading to ascending, linear to oblanceolate, short to long, proximal lobes arising near mid length, sometimes wavy-margined, central lobe apex rounded to truncate, lateral ones obtuse to rounded. |
3.5–20(–29) × 1–4 cm; bracts pale green to pale yellow throughout, or proximally pale green to pale yellow, distally pale yellow to bright yellow, sometimes light orange, light red, or bright red, lanceolate to narrowly oblong or narrowly elliptic, slightly broader than leaves, usually 3–5-lobed; lobes ± spreading, linear or narrowly lanceolate, short or long, proximal or all bracts arising near or below mid length, apex acute, sometimes narrowly obtuse. |
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Corollas | straight, 13–20 mm; tube 5–7 mm; beak short-exserted, sometimes shorter than abaxial calyx segments, adaxially yellow, rarely greenish, 7–10 mm; abaxial lip pale green to yellowish, reduced, 0.5–1.5 mm, 7–17% as long as beak; teeth reduced to apiculations, pale green to yellowish, 0.5–0.8 mm. |
straight or ± curved, 13–30 mm; tube 12–16 mm; beak, sometimes abaxial lip, slightly to strongly exserted, corolla often curved and exserted through abaxial cleft; beak adaxially green, (5–)6–12 mm; abaxial lip green or yellow, reduced, exserted or more commonly visible in cleft in calyx, 1–3.5 mm, 20–33(–50)% as long as beak; teeth ascending, green to yellow, 0.5–2 mm. |
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Calyces | light green, cream, or light yellow, often appearing white from dense white-woolly pubescence, 10–18 mm; abaxial clefts 5–6.5 mm, closed by intertwined hairs and appearing 2 mm deep, adaxial 2.2–4.2 mm, abaxial ca. 25% of calyx length, adaxial ca. 20% of calyx length, shallower (or appearing much shallower), than laterals, lateral 4.6–7.5 mm, ca. 50% of calyx length; lobes: abaxial segments broad, paddle-shaped, 7 mm, inner surface of abaxial segments densely white-woolly, apex rounded to broadly obtuse, adaxial narrowly triangular, 5 mm, apex acute. |
proximally green, sometimes purple or pinkish, distally yellow to light orange, dull green, or colored as bracts, 11–28 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 4–16(–17) mm, 30–60(–95)% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0.5–7 mm, 4–30% of calyx length; lobes linear to lanceolate or narrowly to broadly triangular, apex acute to acuminate. |
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2n | = 48. |
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Castilleja plagiotoma |
Castilleja flava |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jul. | |||||
Habitat | Dry flats, rocky, sandy, or clayey slopes, ridges, sagebrush steppes, chaparral, desert scrub, pinyon woodlands. | |||||
Elevation | 200–2500 m. (700–8200 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
CA
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CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WY
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Discussion | Castilleja plagiotoma is unique in the genus in the structure of its calyces, with the lateral clefts deeper than the median clefts. The relative lengths of the calyx lobes are also unique, with the abaxial lobes exceeding the adaxial lobes by 2–3 mm. The abaxial lobes also bear a dense indument of whitish, branched hairs. The uniformly greenish bracts are uncommon among perennial species of Castilleja. Castilleja plagiotoma is scattered in the western Mojave Desert and the hills adjacent to the southwestern San Joaquin Valley, California. While not of immediate conservation concern, this species is uncommon and increasingly threatened by recreational vehicles, livestock grazing, residential development, and resource extraction. Castilleja plagiotoma is most often associated with and is likely parasitic on Eriogonum fasciculatum var. polifolium, but it is also often observed with Artemisia tridentata or other species. It is a known larval host plant for the butterfly, Euphydryas editha subsp. erlichii. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Both varieties of Castilleja flava are characteristic plants of sagebrush-dominated communities throughout its wide range, from valleys to moderate elevations in the mountains, sometimes reaching the lower subalpine. The species almost always occurs in close association with shrubby species of Artemisia. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 646. | FNA vol. 17, p. 607. | ||||
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 19: 93. (1883) — (as Castilleia) | S. Watson: Botany (Fortieth Parallel), 230. (1871) — (as Castilleia) | ||||
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