Castilleja thompsonii |
Castilleja litoralis |
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Thompson's Indian paintbrush, Thompson's owl clover, Thompson's paintbrush |
coast paintbrush, Oregon coast paintbrush, Pacific paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, 0.8–4 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 1–9 dm; from a 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. |
few to many, usually decumbent proximally, becoming ascending-erect, sometimes ascending, branched, sometimes with small, leafy axillary shoots, glabrate or ± pubescent distally, hairs sparse to moderately dense, spreading to ± appressed, short, soft, sometimes mixed with short-glandular ones below inflorescence. |
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, lanceolate to oblong or narrowly ovate, (0.5–)3–8 cm, sometimes thickened, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes ± wavy, flat to involute, 0(–3)-lobed, apex acute to rounded; lobes ascending or spreading, linear, narrowly lanceolate to oblong or triangular, short, apex acute to obtuse. |
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. |
2.5–21 × 3–5 cm; bracts proximally green, distally bright red to crimson or orange-red, sometimes orange or pale yellow-orange, oblong to narrowly ovate or narrowly obovate, (0–)3–5-lobed, sometimes with a pair of small teeth; lobes ascending, linear to oblong, medium length, arising in middle 1/3, central lobe apex obtuse to rounded or truncate, lateral ones ± acute. |
Pedicels | 0–6 mm. |
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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 or slightly curved, 23–38(–40) mm; tube 10–20 mm; abaxial lip often visible through front cleft, very rarely almost exserted, beak exserted; beak adaxially green or yellowish, 10–16 mm, surface inconspicuously puberulent; abaxial lip ascending, green, reduced, 1–2.5 mm, 10–20% as long as beak; teeth erect or incurved, green or white, 1–2 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. |
colored as bracts, 17–25(–30) mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts (5–)7–15(–18) mm, 33–55% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1–3(–5) mm, 5–10% of calyx length; lobes broadly triangular to oblong, apex obtuse to acute or rounded. |
2n | = 24, 48. |
= 120, 144. |
Castilleja thompsonii |
Castilleja litoralis |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Aug(–Sep). | Flowering (Apr–)May–Aug(–Sep). |
Habitat | Dry slopes, ridges, scabland lithosol soils, meadows, sagebrush steppes, valleys, montane to alpine. | Steep rocky slopes, headlands, ledges, sea cliffs, coastal scrub, dune swales, roadcuts. |
Elevation | 200–2100 m. (700–6900 ft.) | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) |
Distribution |
OR; WA; BC
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CA; 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 litoralis never ranges more than one to two kilometers from the sea, from Humboldt County, California, north to Pacific County, Washington, near the mouth of the Columbia River. It is a high polyploid complex, possibly incorporating the genomes of several species, including C. affinis, C. miniata, and possibly C. hispida. The coastal C. miniata var. dixonii is very similar ecologically and morphologically but replaces C. litoralis from southwestern Washington to southern British Columbia. Compared to C. litoralis, C. miniata var. dixonii usually has somewhat longer corollas and corolla beaks, the latter with a more conspicuously puberulent surface and deeper lateral calyx clefts. Castilleja litoralis has been included as a subspecies of C. affinis by some (for example, M. Wetherwax et al. 2012), but the morphological resemblance to that species is far more tenuous than it is to C. miniata var. dixonii. Considering their very similar morphologies, along with the fact that both C. litoralis (2n = 120, 144) and C. miniata var. dixonii (2n = 96, 144) apparently combine multiple genomes, strongly suggest that they would best be treated as a single entity. Should they be combined at the species level following additional research, the name C. dixonii has priority. Castilleja litoralis is often associated with salal, Gaultheria shallon, on which it is likely parasitic. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 661. | FNA vol. 17, p. 624. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. villicaulis | C. affinis subsp. litoralis, C. wightii subsp. litoralis |
Name authority | Pennell: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 99: 178. (1947) — (as thompsoni) | Pennell: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 99: 183. (1947) |
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