Castilleja subinclusa |
Castilleja plagiotoma |
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Franciscan paint brush, longleaf Indian paintbrush |
Mojave desert paintbrush, Mojave Indian paintbrush, Mojave paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, 1.8–12 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 2.3–5.3(–6) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | ||||||||
Stems | solitary or few to many, erect to ascending, often leaning on nearby shrubs (var. jepsonii), unbranched or branched, often with small, leafy axillary shoots, hairs matted to spreading, short and long, soft, mixed with short stipitate-glandular ones. |
several, erect to weakly ascending, often leaning on nearby shrubs, much-branched, often with short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs sparse, spreading, short or long, soft, branched or unbranched, eglandular. |
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Leaves | green, pale gray-green, sometimes dull reddish purple, linear to narrowly, sometimes broadly, lanceolate, 2–10.5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes ± wavy, flat or involute, 0(–3)-lobed, apex acuminate to acute; lobes spreading, linear to short-lanceolate, often arising near mid length, apex acute to obtuse. |
gray-green or green to purple to ± deep red, linear or linear-lanceolate, 2–5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane to ± wavy, flat or involute, 3–5(–7)-lobed, apex acuminate to acute; lobes spreading-ascending, sometimes widely so, narrowly linear, apex acute or obtuse. |
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Inflorescences | 3–30 × 1–7 cm; bracts green or dull purple throughout, or proximally green or dull purple, distally bright red to orange-red, sometimes salmon, orange, or yellow, usually linear to lanceolate, distal sometimes broadly lanceolate to oblong or elliptic, 0(–3)-lobed; lobes spreading to erect, linear to oblong or triangular, short or medium length, arising near or above mid length, apex acute to obtuse. |
3–20 × 0.5–1.5 cm; bracts green throughout, sometimes tinged dull purple, proximal sometimes linear-lanceolate, distal or all bracts oblong, 3–5(–7)-lobed; lobes spreading to ascending, linear to oblanceolate, short to long, proximal lobes arising near mid length, sometimes wavy-margined, central lobe apex rounded to truncate, lateral ones obtuse to rounded. |
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Corollas | curved proximally, straight to slightly curved distally, 25–57 mm; tube 15–29 mm; beak subequal to or exceeding calyx but abaxial lip, beak, and often part of tube usually exserted out abaxial cleft; beak adaxially green, yellow-green, or yellow, 13–21 mm, margins red, orange, or yellow; abaxial lip green, yellow, reddish, blackish, or deep red-purple, reduced, protuberant, forming a platform, 1–2 mm, 5–25% as long as beak; teeth ascending, green, purple sometimes with reddish tip, yellow, or blackish, 0.5–1 mm. |
straight, 13–20 mm; tube 5–7 mm; beak short-exserted, sometimes shorter than abaxial calyx segments, adaxially yellow, rarely greenish, 7–10 mm; abaxial lip pale green to yellowish, reduced, 0.5–1.5 mm, 7–17% as long as beak; teeth reduced to apiculations, pale green to yellowish, 0.5–0.8 mm. |
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Calyces | proximally pale green, rarely pale purple, distally bright red or red-orange, rarely orange or yellow, or bright red or red-orange throughout, 20–42 mm; abaxial clefts 13–27 mm, adaxial 7–17 mm, abaxial 40–70% of calyx length, adaxial 12–33% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0–7.5 mm, 0–35% of calyx length; lobes linear to narrowly triangular, strongly curved away from stem proximally and distally obviously curved toward stem, apex acute to acuminate to obtuse. |
light green, cream, or light yellow, often appearing white from dense white-woolly pubescence, 10–18 mm; abaxial clefts 5–6.5 mm, closed by intertwined hairs and appearing 2 mm deep, adaxial 2.2–4.2 mm, abaxial ca. 25% of calyx length, adaxial ca. 20% of calyx length, shallower (or appearing much shallower), than laterals, lateral 4.6–7.5 mm, ca. 50% of calyx length; lobes: abaxial segments broad, paddle-shaped, 7 mm, inner surface of abaxial segments densely white-woolly, apex rounded to broadly obtuse, adaxial narrowly triangular, 5 mm, apex acute. |
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2n | = 24, 48, 72, 96. |
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Castilleja subinclusa |
Castilleja plagiotoma |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jul. | |||||||||
Habitat | Dry flats, rocky, sandy, or clayey slopes, ridges, sagebrush steppes, chaparral, desert scrub, pinyon woodlands. | |||||||||
Elevation | 200–2500 m. (700–8200 ft.) | |||||||||
Distribution |
CA; nw Mexico
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CA
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Discussion | Varieties 3 (3 in the flora). Castilleja subinclusa is divided into three varieties with somewhat discontinuous ranges. Identification of the varieties is often difficult when comparing only a single trait but is more easily accomplished when the characters are considered in a suite. The three varieties are also separable by range and habitat. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Castilleja plagiotoma is unique in the genus in the structure of its calyces, with the lateral clefts deeper than the median clefts. The relative lengths of the calyx lobes are also unique, with the abaxial lobes exceeding the adaxial lobes by 2–3 mm. The abaxial lobes also bear a dense indument of whitish, branched hairs. The uniformly greenish bracts are uncommon among perennial species of Castilleja. Castilleja plagiotoma is scattered in the western Mojave Desert and the hills adjacent to the southwestern San Joaquin Valley, California. While not of immediate conservation concern, this species is uncommon and increasingly threatened by recreational vehicles, livestock grazing, residential development, and resource extraction. Castilleja plagiotoma is most often associated with and is likely parasitic on Eriogonum fasciculatum var. polifolium, but it is also often observed with Artemisia tridentata or other species. It is a known larval host plant for the butterfly, Euphydryas editha subsp. erlichii. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 657. | FNA vol. 17, p. 646. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | ||||||||||
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Name authority | Greene: Pittonia 4: 2. (1899) — (as Castilleia) | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 19: 93. (1883) — (as Castilleia) | ||||||||
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