Castilleja unalaschcensis
Castilleja ornata
Alaska Indian paintbrush, coastal paintbrush, unalaska paintbrush
glowing Indian paintbrush, ornate paintbrush
few to many, erect to ascending, unbranched or branched distally, glabrate proximally, hairy distally, hairs sparse, spreading to erect, long, soft, eglandular, rarely stipitate-glandular.
solitary or few to several, erect or ascending, often branched low on stem, unbranched distally, hairs appressed or retrorse, medium length, soft, eglandular, mixed with shorter stipitate-glandular ones.
green, sometimes red-purplish, lanceolate-linear to lanceolate, elliptic-ovate, or ovate, (1.2–)3.5–10 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes ± wavy, flat to slightly involute, 0(–3)-lobed, apex acuminate to acute;
lobes ascending, lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate.
green or purple-tinged, proximal forming a rosette, linear-lanceolate to oblong or oblanceolate, 2–4 cm, not fleshy, clasping, margins wavy, sometimes plane, involute, 0-lobed, apex acuminate, acute, or obtuse.
3.5–18 × 2–6.5 cm;
bracts proximally green, distally yellow, pale yellow, whitish, yellow-green, or pale orange, often aging reddish or pink, lanceolate, elliptic, ovate, oblanceolate, or oblong to narrowly obovate, (0–)3–5-lobed;
lobes ascending, linear to oblong, short, arising above mid length, apex acute to obtuse.
3–24 × 1.5–3 cm;
bracts proximally green, distally white, sometimes very pale yellow, often aging dull pink or dull red-purple, spatulate, 0-lobed, sometimes seeming lobed due to wavy margins, apex obtuse to rounded.
straight or slightly curved, 18–28 mm;
tube 16–19 mm;
beak partially to completely exserted, abaxial lip not exserted;
beak adaxially green, 6–13 mm;
abaxial lip deep green, reduced, inconspicuous, 1–2 mm, ca. 20% as long as beak;
teeth incurved, deep green or white, 0.5–1 mm.
slightly curved, 22–24 mm;
tube 10–13 mm;
beak exserted, adaxially green, 5–10 mm;
abaxial lip pale greenish, reduced, pouches 3, 0.5–1.5 mm, 5–10% as long as beak;
teeth slightly incurved, reduced, pale greenish to white, 0.3–0.7 mm.
colored as bracts, 15–28 mm;
abaxial cleft 12–16 mm, adaxial 8–11.5 mm, clefts 40–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 4–10 mm, 20–35% of calyx length;
lobes oblong to lanceolate, apex acute to obtuse or rounded.
green throughout or distal margin white aging pink, 15–17 mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts 6–14 mm, 35–45% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0(–0.7) mm, 0(–5)% of calyx length;
lobes short-triangular, abaxial segments longer than adaxials, apex acute to obtuse or rounded.
= ca. 96.
= 24.
Castilleja unalaschcensis
Castilleja ornata
Castilleja unalaschcensis is a characteristic meadow species across much of the southern Alaskan coast, including the Aleutian Islands, as well as on the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) and the mainland of western British Columbia and southern Yukon. It is common in the coastal littoral zone and ascends to lower alpine meadow communities. Morphologically, it appears to be a sister species to C. septentrionalis of the Rocky Mountains and boreal sites in eastern North America. A weakly differentiated interior form was described as subsp. transnivalis Pennell.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Castilleja ornata is known from Chihuahua and northern Durango, Mexico, but much of its seasonally moist grassland habitat is now altered by grazing or agriculture, and there are no recent sightings of the species south of the United States border. There is a recently discovered population in southwestern New Mexico, in the southern Animas Valley of Hidalgo County. While very rare, C. ornata lacks federal protection. The small Animas Valley population is the last known extant occurrence, and this population was reduced to two individuals in a census conducted in 2017 (D. Roth, pers. comm.). The species appears to be critically endangered globally and in need of conservation management.
The inflorescences of Castilleja ornata have pale greenish bracts with white apices when young, but the apices often become pale pink to dull reddish with age. Its pubescence, wavy-margined leaves, and unusual bract color also distinguish C. ornata. Castilleja exserta and C. minor are the only other annual paintbrushes in New Mexico and differ from C. ornata by the color of their floral bract apices, which are usually pink to red-purple in C. exserta and bright red in C. minor.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
