Castilleja rhexiifolia |
Castilleja hispida |
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alpine paintbrush, rhexia-leaf paintbrush, Rocky Mountain paintbrush, rosy paintbrush, split-leaf Indian paintbrush |
harsh Indian paintbrush, harsh paintbrush, hispid or harsh or bristly paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, (1–)2.5–6(–8) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 1.3–5(–6) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | ||||
Stems | few to several, erect or ascending, unbranched, sometimes branched, proximally glabrous to glabrate, distally sparsely hairy, hairs spreading, ± long, soft, eglandular, sometimes stipitate-glandular. |
few to many, erect or ascending, unbranched, sometimes with inconspicuous, short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs spreading to erect, long, soft to stiff, mixed with shorter stipitate-glandular ones. |
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Leaves | green or purple-tinged, linear, narrowly to broadly lanceolate, oblong, or ovate, 3–6(–7) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat to slightly involute, prominently veined, 0(–3)-lobed, apex acute to rarely obtuse; lobes ascending or spreading, linear to filiform, much smaller than mid blade, short, apex acute. |
green, sometimes purple-tinged, margins sometimes red-brown, linear or narrowly to broadly lanceolate to narrowly oblong, oblanceolate, or ovate, 1–8.5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane or wavy, involute or flat, (0–)3–5(–7)-lobed, apex acute to rounded or acuminate; lobes ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate, much narrower than mid blade, apex acute to rounded. |
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Inflorescences | 2.5–15 × 1.5–4.5 cm; bracts pink-purple, red-purple, purple, or crimson throughout, rarely reddish, yellowish, or white throughout, or proximally greenish, dull brownish purple, or deep purple, distally colored as above, broadly lanceolate to ovate or obovate, (0–)3–5(–7)-lobed; lobes ascending to erect, linear or lanceolate-acuminate, short, arising near or above mid length, central lobe apex obtuse to broadly rounded, lateral ones acute to sometimes rounded. |
3–16(–30 in fruit) × 2–5 cm; bracts proximally greenish to dull reddish purple, distally red to orange or yellow, sometimes crimson, scarlet, orange-red, red-orange, or burnt orange, often becoming paler and/or duller with age, lanceolate to oblong, ovate, or obovate, 3–5(–11)-lobed; lobes spreading to ascending, linear to oblong or narrowly lanceolate, medium length or long, arising at or above mid length, central lobe apex obtuse to rounded or truncate, sometimes emarginate, truncate, or acute, lateral ones acute to obtuse. |
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Corollas | straight, 15–30(–36) mm; tube (11–)12–22(–24) mm; beak exserted, adaxially green, yellow, or tinged with red, 7–12 mm; abaxial lip deep green, reduced, 1.5–3.5 mm, to 33% as long as beak; teeth incurved, green or white, 0.5–2 mm. |
slightly curved, 17–38 mm; tube 12–18 mm; beak exserted, adaxially green, sometimes yellowish, rarely red-brown, 9–20 mm; abaxial lip ascending, deep green, reduced, curved, 0.5–3 mm, to 10–33% length of beak; teeth incurved, reduced, green, 0.5–1.2 mm. |
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Calyces | proximally green, purplish, or whitish, distally colored as bracts, 15–25 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 8–12(–15) mm, 40–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–5(–8) mm, 15–25(–30)% of calyx length; lobes oblong to triangular or ovate, apex obtuse to rounded, sometimes acute. |
colored as bracts, sometimes with a yellow band proximal to red to orange apices, or ca. 1/2 yellowish and 1/2 reddish, 12–35 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 7–12 mm, 33–65% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–7 mm, 15–30% of calyx length; lobes triangular, linear, or oblong to lanceolate, apex acute or obtuse to rounded. |
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2n | = 24, 48, 96. |
= 24, 48, 96. |
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Castilleja rhexiifolia |
Castilleja hispida |
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Phenology | Flowering (Mar–)May–Sep. | |||||
Habitat | Moist meadows, open forests, slopes and ridges, sun or shade, subalpine to alpine. | |||||
Elevation | 1800–4000 m. (5900–13100 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
CO; ID; MT; NM; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
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ID; MT; OR; WA; AB; BC
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Discussion | Castilleja rhexiifolia is a characteristic and common paintbrush in the Rocky Mountains region, from central Alberta to northern New Mexico. Disjunct populations also occur in northeastern Oregon, in the Blue, Ochoco, and Wallowa mountains, as well as near the summit of Abercrombie Mountain in the Selkirk Mountains of northeastern Washington. The inflorescence colors are variable. Typical plants are red-purple. However, many other shades of pink-white, pink-purple, and crimson are common as well. Many populations contain a wide range of color variants. Intergradation is occasionally seen with C. miniata, C. occidentalis, and C. septentrionalis. However, for the most part, these four species remain distinct, and their ranges are not entirely overlapping. In the Wallowa Mountains, a recurrent and variable hybrid form between C. chrysantha and C. rhexiifolia was described as C. wallowensis Pennell. In the north Cascade Range of Washington, plants of C. elmeri with crimson inflorescences are sometimes identified as C. rhexiifolia. In Glacier National Park, Montana, in the vicinity of Logan Pass, C. rhexiifolia frequently hybridizes with C. occidentalis, creating a number of hybrid morphologies. Both of the parents are common in the area. Similar hybrids are also found in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Castilleja hispida is likely related to C. chromosa, which replaces it geographically to the southeast. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 651. | FNA vol. 17, p. 612. | ||||
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | ||||
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Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | C. oregonensis | |||||
Name authority | Rydberg: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 356. (1900) — (as rhexifolia) | Bentham: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 105. (1838) | ||||
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