Castilleja thompsonii |
Castilleja chambersii |
|
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Thompson's Indian paintbrush, Thompson's owl clover, Thompson's paintbrush |
Chambers' Indian paintbrush, Chambers' paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, 0.8–4 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 1.5–3.7 dm; from a thick, woody caudex; with a taproot. |
Stems | few to many, erect or ascending, unbranched or branched, hairs spreading, long, stiff, sometimes soft (especially in higher elevations), eglandular, mixed with shorter stipitate-glandular ones. |
solitary or few to several, ascending, sometimes short-decumbent and rooting, branched from near base, sometimes distally, glabrous or glabrate with hairs very sparse, ± appressed, very short, soft, eglandular. |
Leaves | green to purple or reddish brown, linear to narrowly oblong or linear-lanceolate, 1.4–7.4 cm, not fleshy, margins plane to ± wavy, involute or flat, 3(–7)-lobed, apex acuminate; lobes spreading-ascending, linear, short to long moving up leaf axis, apex acute or obtuse. |
green, often brown- or purple-tinged, oblong to lanceolate to narrowly ovate or ovate, (1–)2–5.8 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, ± involute, deeply 3–7(–11)-lobed, sometimes with secondary lobes, apex narrowly acute; lobes erect to ascending, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate to oblanceolate, apex acute. |
Inflorescences | 2.5–14 × 1–4 cm; bracts greenish to pale yellow or reddish brown throughout, or proximally greenish to dull reddish purple, or ruddy brown, distally greenish to yellow-green or yellow, often aging dull reddish to dull purplish, lanceolate to oblong to ovate, 3–5(–9)-lobed; lobes spreading to ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate, long, proximal lobes arising below mid length, apex acute to obtuse. |
3–15 × 2–4.5 cm; bracts proximally greenish, distally bright red, scarlet, or pale reddish orange, rarely orange-yellow, often fading to pale yellowish orange with age, obovate to orbicular, fan-shaped, (3–)5–9(–13)-lobed, sometimes with secondary lobes; lobes erect or ascending, lanceolate to triangular, short and medium length, usually arising at or above mid length, rarely below, apex acute. |
Corollas | straight, 18–21 mm; tube 11–16 mm; subequal to calyx, sometimes beak exserted; beak adaxially green, 5–7(–8) mm; abaxial lip white, often proximally reddish, prominent, scarcely expanded, ± cylindric, 2.5–4(–5) mm, 50–70% as long as beak, glabrous or obscurely puberulent; teeth incurved to erect, white, 2.5 mm. |
straight, 30–45 mm; tube 14–19 mm; beak long-exserted, adaxially green or yellow-green to brownish, 18–24 mm; abaxial lip deep green, reduced, 1–3 mm, 10% as long as beak; teeth incurved, greenish to dull purplish, 0.5–1.5 mm. |
Calyces | colored as bracts, 12–25 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 4–8 mm, 20–60% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral (0–)1–3 mm, 7–25% of calyx length; lobes linear, lanceolate, or triangular, apex acute, sometimes obtuse. |
proximally green, sometimes purple to brown, distally colored as bracts, 20–30 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 7–14 mm, ca. 33% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–4 mm, 10–15% of calyx length; lobes triangular, barely longer than wide, apex acute or acuminate to obtuse. |
2n | = 24, 48. |
= 24. |
Castilleja thompsonii |
Castilleja chambersii |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Aug(–Sep). | Flowering Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Dry slopes, ridges, scabland lithosol soils, meadows, sagebrush steppes, valleys, montane to alpine. | Turf or crevices on rocky slopes and benches over basalt, se to sw aspect, sun or partial shade. |
Elevation | 200–2100 m. (700–6900 ft.) | 600–1000 m. (2000–3300 ft.) |
Distribution |
OR; WA; BC
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OR; WA
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Discussion | Castilleja thompsonii is a characteristic species of the sagebrush communities on the eastern slope of the Cascade Range in Washington, and in the high deserts of the Columbia Basin. Historically, its range approached but apparently never entered Idaho in the Spokane River valley, but much of its habitat in that area is now converted to agriculture or suburban development or overwhelmed by non-native, invasive plants. Castilleja thompsonii occurs in a few sites in the Okanogan Valley region of southern British Columbia and at one site on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Range in Wasco County, Oregon. A distinctive form from the subalpine and alpine zones of Mt. Adams, in the southern Cascade Range of Washington, was named C. villicaulis. This form may merit varietal status under C. thompsonii. While both names were described in the same paper, C. thompsonii is the name used in all regional floras since their publication, after C. villicaulis was reduced to synonymy by M. Ownbey (1959). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Castilleja chambersii is limited to the summits of three volcanic peaks in the northern Coast Range of Clatsop County, Oregon, and at one similar area in nearby Pacific County, Washington. It is similar to C. rupicola, and the two likely share a common ancestor. Disturbance and erosion from logging and road construction represent significant threats to C. chambersii. Populations of C. chambersii often grow near and even alongside C. hispida, but hybrids are rare. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 661. | FNA vol. 17, p. 593. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. villicaulis | |
Name authority | Pennell: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 99: 178. (1947) — (as thompsoni) | J. M. Egger & Meinke: Brittonia 51: 445, fig. 1. (1999) |
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