Castilleja rupicola |
Castilleja hololeuca |
|
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cliff Indian paintbrush, cliff paintbrush |
Channel Islands paintbrush, island paintbrush, island white-felted paintbrush, white-felted paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, (0.8–)1–2(–3) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Shrubs or subshrubs, 3–10 dm; from a woody caudex; with thick, woody roots. |
Stems | many, decumbent to ascending, unbranched, sparsely pubescent, hairs spreading, wavy, fairly short, soft, eglandular, sometimes glabrous proximally. |
many, erect to spreading, much-branched with many short axillary shoots, proximal stems reaching 1+ cm wide, white-felted, hairs dense, spreading to ± appressed, intertwined, long, soft, slightly branched, obscuring surface. |
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. |
ash gray, leaves of previous year persisting on proximal stem, linear, older leaves sometimes broadly linear, 1–5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0-lobed, apex obtuse; lobes ascending, linear-lanceolate, apex obtuse to rounded, sometimes 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. |
3–16 × 2–4 cm; bracts pale gray-green throughout, or proximally pale gray-green, distally red or yellow, proximal linear, distal broader, often oblanceolate to obovate, (0–)3-lobed; lobes spreading, linear to oblong, short to long, arising below mid length, apex rounded to truncate or acute. |
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. |
slightly curved in proximal 1/3, 14–26(–31) mm; tube 9–17 mm; abaxial lip not exserted, beak exserted; beak adaxially green to yellowish, 11–14 mm; abaxial lip ascending, deep green, reduced, 2–3 mm, less than 33% as long as beak; teeth reduced to apiculations, deep green, 1–1.5 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. |
colored as bracts, with conspicuous whitish veins, 14–18(–20) mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 5–12 mm, 30–67% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0 mm or nearly so, ca. 0% of calyx length; lobes linear-lanceolate, apex rounded, truncate, or emarginate. |
Castilleja rupicola |
Castilleja hololeuca |
|
Phenology | Flowering (May–)Jun–Sep. | Flowering Mar–Oct. |
Habitat | Sunny rocky slopes, scree, talus, ledges, fellfields, subalpine to alpine. | Coastal sage scrub, chaparral slopes and flats, ledges, forest edges. |
Elevation | (200–)1000–2500 m. ((700–)3300–8200 ft.) | 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.) |
Distribution |
OR; WA; BC
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CA
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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 hololeuca is endemic to the four major islands of the northern Channel Islands. It is similar to C. lanata, a mostly Mexican species that reaches Arizona, New Mexico, and southwest Texas. However, C. hololeuca appears to be more closely related to C. foliolosa, a species of the California mainland. These three species, and C. galehintoniae G. L. Nesom of Nuevo León, all share a distinctive, thick indument of pale, matted, and often branched hairs on the stems and leaves. Large individuals of C. hololeuca form thick, woody trunks. On Anacapa Island, closest to the mainland, red-flowered forms of C. hololeuca predominate. On Santa Cruz Island, to the west, both red- and yellow-bracted forms are fairly common, usually in separate populations. Further offshore, on San Miguel and Santa Rosa islands, most plants are yellow to, occasionally, peach in coloration. Reports of this species from Santa Barbara and Santa Catalina Islands are referable to other species, mostly C. foliolosa. Populations of C. hololeuca historically declined from grazing by introduced game and livestock species. The plants are recovering well, following removal of the grazing animals, and are now common in many areas, especially on San Miguel Island. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 653. | FNA vol. 17, p. 614. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. lanata subsp. hololeuca | |
Name authority | Piper: Erythea 6: 45. (1898) — (as Castilleia) | Greene: W. Amer. Sci. 3: 3. (1886) — (as Castilleia) |
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