Castilleja rupicola |
Castilleja cusickii |
|
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cliff Indian paintbrush, cliff paintbrush |
Cusick's Indian paintbrush, Cusick's paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, (0.8–)1–2(–3) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, (1–)1.5–5(–6) dm; from a small, woody caudex; with a taproot or stout, branched roots. |
Stems | many, decumbent to ascending, unbranched, sparsely pubescent, hairs spreading, wavy, fairly short, soft, eglandular, sometimes glabrous proximally. |
solitary or few to several, erect, often decumbent at base, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs spreading, long, soft, eglandular, mixed with shorter, sometimes stiff, stipitate-glandular ones. |
Leaves | purple to green, narrowly, rarely broadly, lanceolate, 1.4–4 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat to involute, (0–)3–5(–7)-lobed, apex acute to acuminate; lobes divergent, spreading-ascending, linear, long, not much narrower than mid blade, often with secondary lobes, creating little frilly fans, apex acute or obtuse. |
green, sometimes with prominent red-purple veins, lanceolate-linear to broadly lanceolate, 2.5–4.5(–7) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat, (0–)3–5(–9)-lobed, apex acuminate to acute; lobes spreading-ascending, narrowly lanceolate, arising at or above mid length, apex acute. |
Inflorescences | 2–6 × 2–3.5 cm; bracts proximally greenish or deep purple near base, distally red, scarlet, or crimson to red-orange, rarely orange, salmon, pink, or yellowish white, ovate to orbicular in outline, 5(–9)-lobed; lobes spreading, linear to linear-lanceolate, long, arising below mid length, apex acute to rounded. |
3.5–26 × 1.5–3.5 cm; bracts pale green, pale greenish yellow, or pale yellow throughout, or proximally pale green, pale greenish yellow, pale yellow, or reddish purple, distally white, yellow, pink, dull purple, or dull reddish purple, sometimes with a purple band below that, sometimes with veins darker than background color, lanceolate to oblong, 0–5(–9)-lobed; lobes ascending or spreading, linear to narrowly lanceolate, often short, arising above mid length, central lobe apex rounded, lateral ones acute to rounded. |
Corollas | straight or slightly curved, 25–35(–45) mm; tube 9–15 mm; beak exserted, adaxially green, purplish, or yellow-green, 14–22 mm; abaxial lip deep green, reduced, 0.5–2 mm, 6–12% as long as beak; teeth incurved to erect, green, 0.5 mm. |
straight, 19–25(–28) mm; tube (13–)15–20 mm; abaxial lip included, beak not or slightly exserted; beak adaxially green to yellow-green, 4–7 mm; abaxial lip yellow, prominent, inflated, 2–4.5 mm, ca. 75% as long as beak; teeth incurved to erect, white, 1.3–2.1 mm. |
Calyces | proximally purple, green, or whitish, distally colored as bract lobes, 15–25 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 8 mm, ca. 40–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1–5 mm, 10–20% of calyx length; lobes triangular, apex obtuse or acute. |
green, pale green, or pale yellow, lobes yellow to pale yellow, 20–30 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 6.6–14 mm, 33–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0–4(–4.5) mm, 0–15% of calyx length; lobes broadly rounded to triangular, apex obtuse to rounded. |
2n | = 24. |
|
Castilleja rupicola |
Castilleja cusickii |
|
Phenology | Flowering (May–)Jun–Sep. | Flowering Apr–Aug. |
Habitat | Sunny rocky slopes, scree, talus, ledges, fellfields, subalpine to alpine. | Moist meadows, swales, grasslands in sagebrush steppes, occasionally to subalpine. |
Elevation | (200–)1000–2500 m. ((700–)3300–8200 ft.) | 500–2500 m. (1600–8200 ft.) |
Distribution |
OR; WA; BC
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ID; MT; NV; OR; WA; WY; AB; BC
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Discussion | Castilleja rupicola is usually found in the subalpine and lower alpine zones in the Cascade Range from extreme southern British Columbia south to northern Douglas County, Oregon. Though it can be numerous where it occurs, the species as a whole is uncommon. One atypical population occurs in a moist, shaded, mossy, north-facing ravine on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge, at less than 250 m. These plants often bear secondary divisions on deeply dissected leaves and bracts. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Castilleja cusickii includes two morphologically distinct variants. One variant has a wider inflorescence, broader bracts, and wider bract lobes. These bracts often have highly contrasting purple veins, and some populations also have a purplish wash on the bracts. These plants have a range on the western edge of typical C. cusickii, though overlapping with more typical forms in western Idaho and adjacent northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. The name C. lutea is available for these variants, and both consistent morphological differences and preliminary results from ongoing genetic research on the plants (D. C. Tank, pers. comm.) indicate its resurrection may be justified. A second variant is distinguished by a pale pink-purple wash on the bracts and a narrow distribution in the meadows of the Bear River Valley, bordering northwestern Utah and adjacent southeastern Idaho. Only bract coloration appears to distinguish this form from typical C. cusickii, and the distinctive bract coloration is only more or less consistent in these populations. Typical Castilleja cusickii appears to hybridize with C. gracillima in the Logan Valley, Grant County, Oregon. It is also reported by M. Ownbey (1959) to hybridize with C. miniata and C. rhexiifolia. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 653. | FNA vol. 17, p. 600. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. lutea | |
Name authority | Piper: Erythea 6: 45. (1898) — (as Castilleia) | Greenman: Bot. Gaz. 25: 267. (1898) — (as Castilleia) |
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