Castilleja pruinosa |
Castilleja purpurea |
|
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frosted Indian paintbrush, frosted paintbrush, pruinose paintbrush |
downy Indian paintbrush, prairie paintbrush, purplish paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs to subshrubs, perennial, (1.2–)2–8 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 1.5–3(–4) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. |
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 many, erect to ascending, branched, sometimes unbranched, hairs fairly dense, spreading to appressed, white, fairly short, soft, ± felty, eglandular, sometimes mixed sparsely with short stipitate-glandular ones, sometimes obscuring surface. |
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 purple, linear to narrowly oblong-lanceolate, 2–7(–9) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes slightly wavy, involute, 3–7-lobed, apex narrowly acute to rounded; lobes spreading, linear, apex obtuse or 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. |
2.6–16 × 2–4 cm; bracts proximally greenish to deep greenish purple, distally purple, magenta, reddish, pink, or rose, rarely white, cream, light yellow, or dull orangish, proximal linear to lanceolate, distal oblong, 3–7(–9)-lobed; lobes spreading to ascending, linear to oblanceolate, long, arising from distal 2/3, center lobe apex obtuse to rounded, lateral ones acute to rounded. |
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. |
slightly curved, 25–40 mm; tube 16–22 mm; beak exserted, adaxially green, 9–18 mm; abaxial lip green to purple-red, reduced, not strongly pouched, ± protruding, 4–5 mm, 33–50% as long as beak; teeth prominent, petaloid, spreading to erect, colored as in distal portion of bracts, 3–4 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, (20–)25–34 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts (10–)13–22 mm, 50–60% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 7–16 mm, 35–45% of calyx length; lobes broadly linear to long-triangular or oblong, apex acute to obtuse. |
2n | = 48. |
|
Castilleja pruinosa |
Castilleja purpurea |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Aug. | Flowering Mar–May. |
Habitat | Dry flats, rocky slopes, talus, thickets, open forests and forest edges, usually over serpentine. | Rocky slopes, ledges, prairies, woodlands, thickets, roadsides, often sandy or limy soils. |
Elevation | 50–2600 m. (200–8500 ft.) | 200–600 m. (700–2000 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; OR
|
KS; MO; OK; TX
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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 purpurea is a common species of eastern Oklahoma and central Texas, with a few records from adjacent southeastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri. It often provides beautiful, multicolored displays in the meadows within its range. Castilleja citrina and C. lindheimeri are closely related species sometimes regarded as varieties of C. purpurea. Hybrids and hybrid swarms between C. indivisa and C. purpurea have been observed at some localities where they are sympatric. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 647. | FNA vol. 17, p. 649. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Euchroma purpurea, C. williamsii | |
Name authority | Fernald: Erythea 6: 50. (1898) — (as Castilleia) | (Nuttall) G. Don: Gen. Hist. 4: 615. 1837/1838 |
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