Castilleja tenuiflora |
Castilleja purpurascens |
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Catalina Indian paintbrush, Santa Catalina Indian paintbrush, Santa Catalina paintbrush |
yoho paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, (1.5–)2–4 dm; from a woody caudex; with branched, woody roots. | |
Stems | few or several, ascending to erect, branched or unbranched, shiny proximally, glabrous proximally, hairy distally, hairs spreading, long, soft, eglandular, sometimes sparsely glandular. |
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Leaves | deep purple to green, linear-lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, rarely broadly lanceolate, 1.5–4.5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat or slightly involute, 0(–3)-lobed, apex usually acuminate or acute; lobes upright or ascending, lanceolate, apex acute. |
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Inflorescences | 2–12 × 2–6 cm; bracts deep reddish or crimson, rarely magenta or dull orange, or proximally greenish near base, distally colored as above, oblong to broadly lanceolate, often spreading from base and exposing calyces, 0–3(–5)-lobed; lobes ascending to erect, linear, short to medium length, arising near or above mid length, apex acute to obtuse. |
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Corollas | straight to slightly curved, 20–37 mm; tube 12–21 mm; abaxial lip sometimes exserted, beak exserted; beak adaxially green, 10–16 mm; abaxial lip green, sometimes yellow, usually reduced, protruding through abaxial cleft, sometimes a little pouched, 3-lobed, 2–6 mm, 17–45% as long as beak; teeth erect, green, whitish, or yellow, 1–1.5 mm. |
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Calyces | colored as bracts, 18–28 mm; abaxial clefts 5–6 mm, adaxial 8–15 mm, clefts 28–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1.5–6 mm, 5–25% of calyx length; lobes long-triangular, apex acute. |
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2n | = 48. |
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Castilleja tenuiflora |
Castilleja purpurascens |
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Phenology | Flowering (May–)Jun–Jul. | |
Habitat | Gravel river flats, moist thickets. | |
Elevation | 1200–2200 m. (3900–7200 ft.) | |
Distribution |
AZ; NM; Mexico
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AB; BC |
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 purpurascens is a species of gravelly flood plains and riverbanks at moderate elevations in the vicinity of the Kicking Horse River in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, and in immediately adjacent Alberta. While this tetraploid species may be derived from hybridization between C. miniata and C. rhexiifolia, its combination of traits is unique, and the species forms morphologically consistent populations limited to a habitat not particularly favored by either putative parent species. Very occasional hybrids are known with both C. lutescens and C. miniata. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 659. | FNA vol. 17, p. 649. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Name authority | Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 22. (1839) | Greenman: Bot. Gaz. 42: 146. (1906) |
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