Castilleja tenuiflora |
Castilleja aquariensis |
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Catalina Indian paintbrush, Santa Catalina Indian paintbrush, Santa Catalina paintbrush |
Aquarius paintbrush, Aquarius Plateau Indian paintbrush, Aquarius Plateau paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, 1.1–3.9 dm; from a woody caudex; with numerous, thickened roots. | |
Stems | few to several, ascending to erect, unbranched, hairs moderately dense, often retrorse, short, ± stiff, stipitate-glandular distally only in inflorescence. |
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Leaves | appressed-ascending, green to purplish, linear to narrowly lanceolate, distal sometimes broadly lanceolate, (1–)2.5–4(–5.5) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0(–5)-lobed, apex rounded to acuminate; lobes ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute. |
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Inflorescences | 2–7 × 1.5–2 cm; bracts proximally pale green to pale yellow-green, distally pale to bright yellow or cream, rarely pale orange, elliptic, narrowly ovate, elliptic-oblong, broadly lanceolate, or ovate, (0–)3(–5)-lobed; lobes ascending or spreading, narrowly lanceolate, short, arising near tip on distal bracts, central lobe apex rounded to truncate, lateral ones acute to rounded. |
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Corollas | straight, 17–25 mm; tube 9–13 mm; beak exserted, adaxially green, 6–8(–12) mm, margins red or reddish brown, short-hairy; abaxial lip green, reduced, sometimes exserted, 1.5–2 mm, 10–15% as long as beak, glabrous; teeth erect, green, 0.5–1.5 mm. |
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Calyces | proximally green to yellowish, distal 1/2 yellow, (16–)18–25 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts (8–)9.5–12.5 mm, 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0.5–5(–6) mm, 5–20% of calyx length; lobes lanceolate to ovate, apex acute to obtuse. |
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Castilleja tenuiflora |
Castilleja aquariensis |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | |
Habitat | Meadows with sagebrush, openings in spruce-fir forests. | |
Elevation | 2900–3400 m. (9500–11200 ft.) | |
Distribution |
AZ; NM; Mexico
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UT
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Discussion | Varieties 3 (1 in the flora). Castilleja tenuiflora is common and widespread across the mountains of Mexico, especially in pine-oak-madrone communities at middle elevations, as far south as Oaxaca, where it is found west and north of the Tehuantepec lowlands. There are two varieties of C. tenuiflora endemic to Mexico, while the typical variety crosses into the mountains of southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico. Considerable local and regional variation exists in C. tenuiflora, but most of this appears to be racial in nature, and additional named varieties are likely not justified. While also commonly herbaceous, C. tenuiflora often forms large, multi-stemmed, subshrub plants with a woody base and ascending to strongly erect and often branched stems. It is valued in Mexican traditional medicine and is under study for potentially useful compounds (M. Jiménez et al. 1995; P. M. Sanchez et al. 2013). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Castilleja aquariensis is endemic to the Aquarius Plateau in the mountains of south-central Utah. Its meadow habitats were severely degraded by livestock grazing, and at one time the species was a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act of the United States. It is still a species of management concern. Castilleja aquariensis is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 659. | FNA vol. 17, p. 589. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Name authority | Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 22. (1839) | N. H. Holmgren: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 100: 87, fig. 3. (1973) |
Web links |