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Catalina Indian paintbrush, Santa Catalina Indian paintbrush, Santa Catalina paintbrush

downy Indian paintbrush, prairie paintbrush, purplish paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 1.5–3(–4) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot.
Stems

few to many, erect to ascending, branched, sometimes unbranched, hairs fairly dense, spreading to appressed, white, fairly short, soft, ± felty, eglandular, sometimes mixed sparsely with short stipitate-glandular ones, sometimes obscuring surface.

Leaves

green to purple, linear to narrowly oblong-lanceolate, 2–7(–9) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes slightly wavy, involute, 3–7-lobed, apex narrowly acute to rounded;

lobes spreading, linear, apex obtuse or acute.

Inflorescences

2.6–16 × 2–4 cm;

bracts proximally greenish to deep greenish purple, distally purple, magenta, reddish, pink, or rose, rarely white, cream, light yellow, or dull orangish, proximal linear to lanceolate, distal oblong, 3–7(–9)-lobed;

lobes spreading to ascending, linear to oblanceolate, long, arising from distal 2/3, center lobe apex obtuse to rounded, lateral ones acute to rounded.

Corollas

slightly curved, 25–40 mm;

tube 16–22 mm;

beak exserted, adaxially green, 9–18 mm;

abaxial lip green to purple-red, reduced, not strongly pouched, ± protruding, 4–5 mm, 33–50% as long as beak;

teeth prominent, petaloid, spreading to erect, colored as in distal portion of bracts, 3–4 mm.

Calyces

colored as bracts, (20–)25–34 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts (10–)13–22 mm, 50–60% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 7–16 mm, 35–45% of calyx length;

lobes broadly linear to long-triangular or oblong, apex acute to obtuse.

Castilleja tenuiflora

Castilleja purpurea

Phenology Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Rocky slopes, ledges, prairies, woodlands, thickets, roadsides, often sandy or limy soils.
Elevation 200–600 m. (700–2000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
KS; MO; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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 purpurea is a common species of eastern Oklahoma and central Texas, with a few records from adjacent southeastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri. It often provides beautiful, multicolored displays in the meadows within its range. Castilleja citrina and C. lindheimeri are closely related species sometimes regarded as varieties of C. purpurea. Hybrids and hybrid swarms between C. indivisa and C. purpurea have been observed at some localities where they are sympatric.

(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
C. affinis, C. ambigua, C. angustifolia, C. applegatei, C. aquariensis, C. arachnoidea, C. attenuata, C. brevilobata, C. brevistyla, C. campestris, C. cervina, C. chambersii, C. chlorotica, C. christii, C. chromosa, C. chrymactis, C. chrysantha, C. cinerea, C. citrina, C. coccinea, C. collegiorum, C. covilleana, C. crista-galli, C. cryptantha, C. cusickii, C. densiflora, C. dissitiflora, C. disticha, C. elata, C. elegans, C. elmeri, C. exserta, C. flava, C. foliolosa, C. fraterna, C. genevieveana, C. glandulifera, C. gleasoni, C. gracillima, C. grisea, C. haydenii, C. hispida, C. hololeuca, C. hyperborea, C. indivisa, C. integra, C. kaibabensis, C. kerryana, C. kraliana, C. lacera, C. lanata, C. lasiorhyncha, C. lassenensis, C. latifolia, C. lemmonii, C. leschkeana, C. levisecta, C. linariifolia, C. lindheimeri, C. lineariloba, C. lineata, C. litoralis, C. lutescens, C. martini, C. mendocinensis, C. mexicana, C. miniata, C. minor, C. mogollonica, C. mollis, C. montigena, C. nana, C. nelsonii, C. nervata, C. nivea, C. occidentalis, C. oresbia, C. organorum, C. ornata, C. pallescens, C. pallida, C. parviflora, C. parvula, C. patriotica, C. peckiana, C. peirsonii, C. pilosa, C. plagiotoma, C. praeterita, C. pruinosa, C. puberula, C. pulchella, C. purpurascens, C. purpurea, C. raupii, C. revealii, C. rhexiifolia, C. rigida, C. rubicundula, C. rubida, C. rupicola, C. salsuginosa, C. scabrida, C. schizotricha, C. septentrionalis, C. sessiliflora, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tenuis, C. thompsonii, C. tomentosa, C. uliginosa, C. unalaschcensis, C. victoriae, C. viscidula, C. wightii, C. wootonii, C. xanthotricha
C. affinis, C. ambigua, C. angustifolia, C. applegatei, C. aquariensis, C. arachnoidea, C. attenuata, C. brevilobata, C. brevistyla, C. campestris, C. cervina, C. chambersii, C. chlorotica, C. christii, C. chromosa, C. chrymactis, C. chrysantha, C. cinerea, C. citrina, C. coccinea, C. collegiorum, C. covilleana, C. crista-galli, C. cryptantha, C. cusickii, C. densiflora, C. dissitiflora, C. disticha, C. elata, C. elegans, C. elmeri, C. exserta, C. flava, C. foliolosa, C. fraterna, C. genevieveana, C. glandulifera, C. gleasoni, C. gracillima, C. grisea, C. haydenii, C. hispida, C. hololeuca, C. hyperborea, C. indivisa, C. integra, C. kaibabensis, C. kerryana, C. kraliana, C. lacera, C. lanata, C. lasiorhyncha, C. lassenensis, C. latifolia, C. lemmonii, C. leschkeana, C. levisecta, C. linariifolia, C. lindheimeri, C. lineariloba, C. lineata, C. litoralis, C. lutescens, C. martini, C. mendocinensis, C. mexicana, C. miniata, C. minor, C. mogollonica, C. mollis, C. montigena, C. nana, C. nelsonii, C. nervata, C. nivea, C. occidentalis, C. oresbia, C. organorum, C. ornata, C. pallescens, C. pallida, C. parviflora, C. parvula, C. patriotica, C. peckiana, C. peirsonii, C. pilosa, C. plagiotoma, C. praeterita, C. pruinosa, C. puberula, C. pulchella, C. purpurascens, C. raupii, C. revealii, C. rhexiifolia, C. rigida, C. rubicundula, C. rubida, C. rupicola, C. salsuginosa, C. scabrida, C. schizotricha, C. septentrionalis, C. sessiliflora, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tenuiflora, C. tenuis, C. thompsonii, C. tomentosa, C. uliginosa, C. unalaschcensis, C. victoriae, C. viscidula, C. wightii, C. wootonii, C. xanthotricha
Subordinate taxa
C. tenuiflora var. tenuiflora
Synonyms Euchroma purpurea, C. williamsii
Name authority Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 22. (1839) (Nuttall) G. Don: Gen. Hist. 4: 615. 1837/1838
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