Castilleja rupicola
Castilleja puberula
cliff Indian paintbrush, cliff paintbrush
alpine paintbrush, short-flower paintbrush, shortflower Indian paintbrush
many, decumbent to ascending, unbranched, sparsely pubescent, hairs spreading, wavy, fairly short, soft, eglandular, sometimes glabrous proximally.
few to several, erect or ascending, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs retrorse, short, soft, eglandular.
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 to purple, linear to linear-lanceolate, 2–3.3 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0–3(–5)-lobed, apex acuminate;
lobes ascending-spreading to widely spreading, narrowly linear, apex acute.
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.
4–5 × 1.5–2.5 cm;
bracts greenish throughout, or proximally greenish, distally bright yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-orange on apices, narrowly lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 0–5(–7)-lobed;
lobes spreading, filiform to linear, long, proximal lobes arising in proximal 1/2, apex acute to acuminate.
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 or slightly curved, 18–21 mm;
tube 13–15 mm;
beak exserted, adaxially yellow to yellow-green, 6–8 mm;
abaxial lip green, reduced, visible in front cleft, slightly pouched, 2.5–3.5 mm, 35–60% as long as beak;
teeth erect, yellow, 1 mm.
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.
light green to yellowish, margins sometimes yellow, 10–17 mm;
abaxial clefts 8–9 mm, adaxial 2–3 mm, abaxial ca. 50% of calyx length, adaxial ca. 20% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1.9–2.5 mm, 12–20% of calyx length;
lobes narrowly triangular, apex acute to acuminate.
= 24.
Castilleja rupicola
Castilleja puberula
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 puberula is a near-endemic of alpine communities in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado in Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Grand, Larimer, and Park counties. A highly disjunct population occurs near the summit of Mt. Jefferson on the Continental Divide in Beaverhead County, Montana. Castilleja puberula appears to be a high-elevation isolate from the widespread C. flava, which is common at lower elevations in the Intermountain Region. A single case of hybridization with C. septentrionalis is known from Clear Creek County.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
