Castilleja thompsonii
Castilleja covilleana
Thompson's Indian paintbrush, Thompson's owl clover, Thompson's paintbrush
Coville's Indian paintbrush, Coville's or cushion or Rocky Mountain paintbrush
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.
several, erect or ascending, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs sparse, spreading or retrorse, moderately long, soft, crisped, eglandular, mixed with shorter ones.
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, brown, or purple, linear to lanceolate, 1.5–6 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, rarely ± wavy, involute, 3–5(–7)-lobed, apex acuminate to acute;
lobes widely spreading, deep, linear to narrowly lanceolate, lateral lobes not much narrower than central one, apex acuminate.
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.
3–22 (longer in fruit) × 1–5 cm;
bracts proximally greenish to deep purplish, distally bright red or scarlet, sometimes orange to pale yellow, linear, (3–)5–7-lobed, sometimes with secondary lobes;
lobes spreading, linear to oblanceolate, long, arising below mid length, apex acute to obtuse.
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, 20–35 mm;
tube 13–23 mm;
beak and usually part of abaxial lip exserted;
beak adaxially green, 6.9–13 mm;
abaxial lip deep green, reduced, thickened, included or visible through front calyx cleft, 1.7–3.8 mm, 10–25% as long as beak;
teeth incurved, yellow or deep green, 0.7–1.7 mm.
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.
colored as bracts, sometimes paler proximally, 15–26(–33) mm;
abaxial clefts 4–7.4 mm, adaxial 7–10 mm, abaxial 21–37% of calyx length, adaxial 28–51% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1.5–3.5(–5) mm, 8–18% of calyx length;
lobes lanceolate to triangular, apex acute.
= 24, 48.
= 48.
Castilleja thompsonii
Castilleja covilleana
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 covilleana is endemic to the mountains of central Idaho and adjacent southwestern Montana. A collection of unusually tall plants was described as C. multisecta. Castilleja covilleana is closely related to C. rupicola.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
