Castilleja rhexiifolia
Castilleja lacera
alpine paintbrush, rhexia-leaf paintbrush, Rocky Mountain paintbrush, rosy paintbrush, split-leaf Indian paintbrush
cut-leaf owl's clover, cut-leaf paintbrush, cutleaf Indian paintbrush, foothill owl's clover
few to several, erect or ascending, unbranched, sometimes branched, proximally glabrous to glabrate, distally sparsely hairy, hairs spreading, ± long, soft, eglandular, sometimes stipitate-glandular.
solitary, erect, unbranched or branched, hairs spreading, long, soft, scattered among more numerous, medium length, stipitate-glandular ones.
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 or purplish, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1–5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat, 0–5(–7)-lobed, apex acuminate;
lobes spreading to ascending, linear, apex acuminate to acute.
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.
(1.5–)3–14 × 2–3 cm;
bracts green throughout, sometimes proximally green, distally white on apices, lanceolate to ovate, 3–7-lobed;
lobes spreading to ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate, long, arising below mid length, apex obtuse to acute.
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.
straight, 10–22 mm;
tube 8–15 mm;
abaxial lip and beak exserted;
beak adaxially yellow to greenish, 3–6 mm, densely puberulent;
abaxial lip yellow with purple dots at base, inflated, pouches 3, central pouch slightly 2-lobed, pouches 4–8 mm wide, 3–6 mm deep, side pouches curving up a little at tip, 2–5 mm, 75–95% as long as beak;
teeth erect, white or yellow, 0.5–2 mm.
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.
light green, lobes green, 7–13 mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts 3.5–8 mm, 50–67% of calyx length, lateral 2.5–5 mm, ca. 40% of calyx length;
lobes narrowly to broadly lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate.
equal to or slightly exserted from beak.
= 24, 48, 96.
= 22, 24.
Castilleja rhexiifolia
Castilleja lacera
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.)
Castilleja lacera is found in a wide range of elevations in the central and northern Sierra Nevada region and in the Siskiyou Mountains region of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon. Reports from the Coast Ranges north of the San Francisco Bay region and south of the Siskiyou region in western California are referable to other yellow-flowered annuals, including C. ambigua, C. rubicundula var. lithospermoides, Triphysaria eriantha subsp. eriantha, and T. versicolor subsp. faucibarbata. Although most similar to C. rubicundula, C. lacera is somewhat smaller in stature and flower size. It is also easily confused with yellow-flowered populations of C. tenuis, which has smaller flowers and an included stigma. Two chromosome numbers are known for this species, the more northern populations being diploid, and those to the south having an apparently aneuploid count of 2n = 22, which is unique in the genus.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
SW CO Wildflowers
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
