Castilleja rubida
Castilleja mexicana
little reddish Indian paintbrush, purple alpine paintbrush, purple paintbrush, Wallowa alpine paintbrush
Mexican Indian paintbrush, Mexican paintbrush
several, decumbent, or ascending, unbranched, hairs moderately dense, spreading, short and long, soft, eglandular and glandular.
solitary or few, erect to erect-ascending, sometimes slightly curved at base, branched at base or unbranched, hairs spreading, long, stiff to soft, mixed with shorter stipitate-glandular ones.
green to purple, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 0.7–3.2 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, slightly involute, 3–5-lobed, apex narrowly acute to acuminate;
lobes ascending-spreading, narrowly linear to filiform, often curling, often short, apex acute or obtuse.
brown or purplish, sometimes green, linear to narrowly oblong, 1–5 cm, not fleshy, margins wavy, mostly involute, to flat, 3–5-lobed, apex acute;
lobes spreading, linear, apex acute to obtuse.
2.5–6 × 1–2 cm;
bracts purple, deep burgundy, or lavender throughout, rarely pink or yellowish white throughout, sometimes pink or dull whitish on distal margins and apices, oblong, 3–5(–7)-lobed;
lobes spreading, linear, medium length, proximal lobes arising below mid length, center lobe apex rounded to obtuse, lateral ones acute to obtuse.
2–17 × 1.5–6.5 cm;
bracts greenish throughout, narrowly lanceolate (ovate in outline), 3–5(–7)-lobed;
lobes spreading, linear to narrowly oblong, long, arising from 1/3–2/3 blade length, wavy-margined, apex rounded or obtuse to acute.
straight, 12–15 mm;
tube 14–16 mm;
abaxial lip and beak exserted;
beak adaxially green, 5–6 mm;
abaxial lip colored as distal portion of bracts, prominent, pouches 3, central one grooved, pouches not strongly inflated, 4–5 mm, 80–100% as long as beak;
teeth erect, appressed to beak, colored as distal portions of bracts, 1.5–2.5 mm.
straight proximally, conspicuously decurved distally, 35–60 mm;
tube 26–46 mm;
abaxial lip, beak, and majority of tube exserted;
beak yellow to yellowish green, sometimes purplish tipped or drying pinkish, 9–15 mm;
abaxial lip light yellow to whitish, prominent, not inflated, 4–8 mm, 50–75% as long as beak;
teeth spreading-ascending, yellowish, 3–6 mm.
colored as bracts, 10–12 mm; all 4 clefts subequal, 3.5–6.5 mm, 35–55% of calyx length;
lobes broadly linear or linear-triangular, apex obtuse to acute.
proximally brownish green, purplish, or green, lobes tipped with same color as bracts, 18–28 mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts 6–14 mm, 33–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1.5–6 mm, 8–20% of calyx length;
lobes lanceolate to narrowly triangular, abaxials wider than adaxials, apex acute.
green.
= 24.
Castilleja rubida
Castilleja mexicana
Castilleja rubida is a rare alpine species endemic to a few limestone peaks in the Wallowa Mountains of northeastern Oregon, entirely within the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area. It is likely derived from the C. nana complex, found in the mountains of eastern California and Nevada, but it is amply distinct. Due to its very limited range and small population numbers, C. rubida is a species of conservation concern.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Castilleja mexicana occurs in the northern third of Mexico and reaches the flora area only in southwestern Texas. Its conspicuous corollas can be either yellow or, less commonly, white. In both cases, the flowers turn soft pink-purple with age. Texas populations of this species are yellow flowered, and the white-flowered morph appears to occur only in northeastern Mexico. There is some indication of additional morphological differences between these color morphs that may justify varietal segregation. Castilleja mexicana is sometimes confused with the closely related C. sessiliflora, due to their conspicuous, distally curved, usually strongly exserted corollas, but the two species remain distinct.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
