Castilleja tenuiflora
Castilleja flava
Catalina Indian paintbrush, Santa Catalina Indian paintbrush, Santa Catalina paintbrush
rustic paintbrush, yellow Indian paintbrush, yellow paintbrush
several to many, erect or ascending, often grayish, unbranched or often branched distally, glabrate proximally or hairy, especially distally, rarely glabrous, hairs sparse, spreading to appressed, usually curly, ± short, soft, sometimes mixed with sparse, short stipitate-glandular ones.
often grayish or purplish, linear to narrowly lanceolate or narrowly oblong, (1–)2.5–5(–6.7) cm, not fleshy, margins plane or wavy, involute, deeply (0–)3–5(–7)-lobed, apex acute to acuminate;
lobes divaricate to spreading or ascending, linear, arising at or below mid length, apex acute to acuminate.
3.5–20(–29) × 1–4 cm;
bracts pale green to pale yellow throughout, or proximally pale green to pale yellow, distally pale yellow to bright yellow, sometimes light orange, light red, or bright red, lanceolate to narrowly oblong or narrowly elliptic, slightly broader than leaves, usually 3–5-lobed;
lobes ± spreading, linear or narrowly lanceolate, short or long, proximal or all bracts arising near or below mid length, apex acute, sometimes narrowly obtuse.
straight or ± curved, 13–30 mm;
tube 12–16 mm;
beak, sometimes abaxial lip, slightly to strongly exserted, corolla often curved and exserted through abaxial cleft;
beak adaxially green, (5–)6–12 mm;
abaxial lip green or yellow, reduced, exserted or more commonly visible in cleft in calyx, 1–3.5 mm, 20–33(–50)% as long as beak;
teeth ascending, green to yellow, 0.5–2 mm.
proximally green, sometimes purple or pinkish, distally yellow to light orange, dull green, or colored as bracts, 11–28 mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts 4–16(–17) mm, 30–60(–95)% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0.5–7 mm, 4–30% of calyx length;
lobes linear to lanceolate or narrowly to broadly triangular, apex acute to acuminate.
= 48.
Castilleja tenuiflora
Castilleja flava
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.)
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
Both varieties of Castilleja flava are characteristic plants of sagebrush-dominated communities throughout its wide range, from valleys to moderate elevations in the mountains, sometimes reaching the lower subalpine. The species almost always occurs in close association with shrubby species of Artemisia.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Corolla beaks 5–12 mm, abaxial lips 1–2 mm; calyx abaxial clefts 8–16 mm, adaxial 4–8(–15.5) mm; n Great Basin, c Rocky Mountains. | var. flava |
1. Corolla beaks 5–8(–9.5) mm, abaxial lips (1.5–)2–3.5 mm; calyx abaxial and adaxial clefts subequal, (6–)7–13(–17) mm; mountains of ne Oregon to c Idaho. | var. rustica |
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
OR
CalFlora
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
