Castilleja pruinosa
Castilleja pulchella
frosted Indian paintbrush, frosted paintbrush, pruinose paintbrush
beautiful Indian paintbrush, beautiful paintbrush, showy paintbrush
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, erect or ascending, usually decumbent at base, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs spreading, short and long, soft, mostly glandular.
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, linear to broadly lanceolate, 1–3.5(–5) cm, not fleshy, margins plane or wavy, slightly involute, (0–)3–5-lobed, apex acuminate to acute, sometimes obtuse;
lateral lobes ascending-spreading, sometimes widely spreading, narrowly lanceolate to linear, mostly short, apex acute.
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.
2–7 × 1.5–3 cm;
bracts yellow-green, yellow, pinkish, pale reddish, or purple, sometimes distal margins pale white, oblong to broadly lanceolate to ovate, 0–5-lobed;
lobes spreading, linear to narrowly lanceolate, medium length to long, usually arising above mid length, rarely from below mid length, center lobe apex rounded to truncate, lateral ones acute to obtuse.
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 or slightly curved, 17–22(–25) mm;
tube 11–16 mm; subequal to calyx or beak, sometimes abaxial lip, exserted;
beak adaxially yellow to green, 4–6(–7) mm;
abaxial lip green or yellow, reduced, often visible through front cleft, prominently pouched, thickened, 3–4(–5) mm, 50–67% as long as beak;
teeth erect, white, yellow, pink, or purple, 1.5–3 mm.
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, sometimes strongly bicolored green or proximally whitish and distally as bract lobes, (12–)13–23(–25) mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts 5–11 mm, 45–55% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral (0.5–)1–3(–5) mm, 5–20% of calyx length;
lobes broadly triangular, apex obtuse to rounded, rarely acute.
= 48.
= 24.
Castilleja pruinosa
Castilleja pulchella
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 pulchella is a mostly alpine species of the mountains of western Montana and adjacent Idaho and northwestern Wyoming, as well as in the Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah. It is similar to and likely shares ancestry with C. chrysantha of the mountains of northeastern Oregon. Castilleja pulchella is variable in color, with inflorescences ranging from pale yellow to purplish, often within the same population. Some lower elevation populations are known. These plants are considerably taller, and they tend to have only yellowish inflorescences. Where the two occur together, C. pulchella occasionally forms hybrids with C. nivea.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
