Castilleja pruinosa |
Castilleja mollis |
|
---|---|---|
frosted Indian paintbrush, frosted paintbrush, pruinose paintbrush |
soft leaf Indian paintbrush, soft-leaf paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs to subshrubs, perennial, (1.2–)2–8 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, 3–4 dm; from a woody caudex; with woody roots. |
Stems | several to many, erect or ascending, branched or unbranched, sometimes with inconspicuous, short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs ± dense, spreading to appressed, whitish or ashy gray, long, soft, much-branched, rarely unbranched, eglandular or obscurely glandular. |
few to several, ± prostrate, sometimes ascending, much-branched, with dense, matlike growth form, often with short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs dense, tangled, short to long, fairly stiff, branched, sometimes glandular, white-woolly. |
Leaves | green, linear-lanceolate to narrowly or broadly lanceolate, 2–8 cm, not fleshy, margins plane to sometimes wavy, flat or involute, 0-lobed, sometimes 3–5-lobed distally, apex obtuse to rounded, sometimes acute; lobes sometimes divergent, ascending-spreading, linear, apex acute. |
green to deep purple, narrowly elliptic to oblong, ovate, or obovate, 1–3 cm, ± fleshy, margins plane or ± wavy, flat, 0-lobed, apex rounded, rarely acute. |
Inflorescences | 3–20 × 1.5–4 cm; bracts proximally greenish, distally abruptly red, sometimes yellow, salmon, or orange-red, often with a narrow yellow medial band, lanceolate, broadly lanceolate, or oblong, 0–5-lobed; lobes spreading to ascending, linear, long, arising near mid length, apex obtuse to acute. |
usually erect, 2.5–8 × 1.5–4 cm; bracts proximally greenish, distally pale to bright yellow, sometimes brownish orange, sometimes with brownish orange medial band, oblong, elliptic, or obovate, ± cup-shaped, ± fleshy, 0–3-lobed; lobes erect, oblong, short, arising near tip, central lobe apex rounded to truncate, sometimes crenate or with obtuse teeth, lateral ones obtuse. |
Corollas | slightly curved, 20–51 mm; tube 12–21 mm; beak long-exserted, adaxially green, yellow, or red, 12–33 mm; abaxial lip deep green, reduced, 1–2.5 mm, ca. 10% as long as beak; teeth incurved to erect, white, yellow, or green, 0.5–2 mm. |
straight, 17–26 mm; tube 12–13 mm; beak often slightly exserted, adaxially green to yellow-green, 11–13 mm; abaxial lip green, reduced, 1.5–3.5 mm, 10–20% as long as beak; teeth incurved, reduced, green, 0.5–1 mm. |
Calyces | proximally green to yellow, distally and abruptly colored as in distal bracts, often with a central yellow band, 13–28 mm; abaxial clefts 5–13 mm, adaxial 8–14 mm, clefts 33–70% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 3–9 mm, 20–25% of calyx length; lobes lanceolate to triangular, apex acute to acuminate. |
colored as bracts, lacking orange central band, 16–23 mm; abaxial clefts 9.5–14 mm, adaxial 8 mm, abaxial 50–67% of calyx length, adaxial 35–45% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 4.5–5 mm, 20–25% of calyx length; lobes oblong to triangular, abaxials sometimes wider than adaxials, apex acute to rounded, inner surface glabrous. |
2n | = 48. |
= 24. |
Castilleja pruinosa |
Castilleja mollis |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Aug. | Flowering Apr–Aug. |
Habitat | Dry flats, rocky slopes, talus, thickets, open forests and forest edges, usually over serpentine. | Sandy openings in coastal scrub, thin sandy soils over limestone terraces, north- or northwest-facing sandy bluffs, dunes. |
Elevation | 50–2600 m. (200–8500 ft.) | 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; OR
|
CA
|
Discussion | Castilleja pruinosa is a common and variable paintbrush at moderate elevations in the southern half of the Cascade Range, occurring westward in Oregon and in adjacent northwestern California. It is also found in the northern Sierra Nevada. The often dense pubescence of branched hairs distinguishes it from other similar species within its range. Castilleja gleasoni was sometimes included within C. pruinosa, but C. gleasoni is likely of hybrid origin and occurs only in the San Gabriel Mountains of southern California. There are significant morphological differences between C. gleasoni and C. pruinosa. Castilleja pruinosa forms occasional hybrids with C. applegatei var. pinetorum and with C. brevilobata. In some populations in Douglas and eastern Lane counties, Oregon, C. pruinosa forms introgressive swarms with C. hispida var. hispida. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Castilleja mollis is federally listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of the United States. It is endemic to the coastal terraces of the northern portion of Santa Rosa Island, Santa Barbara County, in the northern Channel Islands of southern California. It is recorded historically from San Miguel Island. Much of the available low-elevation habitat on Santa Rosa Island was degraded by trampling and grazing of introduced ungulates, which also resulted in the apparent loss of a natural population on the western end of San Miguel Island, last seen in the 1930s and now believed extirpated. Reports of C. mollis from the Oso Flaco Lake area of the mainland, in San Luis Obispo County, are based on populations of C. affinis var. contentiosa. Castilleja mollis is most closely related to C. latifolia of the central California coast and a sister species to the north, C. mendocinensis. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 647. | FNA vol. 17, p. 632. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Fernald: Erythea 6: 50. (1898) — (as Castilleia) | Pennell: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 99: 185. (1947) |
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