Castilleja aquariensis |
Castilleja nelsonii |
|
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Aquarius paintbrush, Aquarius Plateau Indian paintbrush, Aquarius Plateau paintbrush |
Arizona or southern mountains paintbrush, Rincon Mountain Indian paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, 1.1–3.9 dm; from a woody caudex; with numerous, thickened roots. | Herbs, perennial, 2.5–8(–10) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot or branched root system. |
Stems | few to several, ascending to erect, unbranched, hairs moderately dense, often retrorse, short, ± stiff, stipitate-glandular distally only in inflorescence. |
few to many, ascending to erect, unbranched or often strongly and diffusely branched distally, hairs sparse to dense, spreading to matted, long proximally on stem, becoming puberulent distally, ± stiff, eglandular, often mixed with retrorse shorter ones. |
Leaves | appressed-ascending, green to purplish, linear to narrowly lanceolate, distal sometimes broadly lanceolate, (1–)2.5–4(–5.5) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0(–5)-lobed, apex rounded to acuminate; lobes ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute. |
green, linear-lanceolate or narrowly to broadly lanceolate, 2–6.5(–8) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat to involute, 0(–3)-lobed, apex acute; lobes ascending, lanceolate, apex acute to obtuse. |
Inflorescences | 2–7 × 1.5–2 cm; bracts proximally pale green to pale yellow-green, distally pale to bright yellow or cream, rarely pale orange, elliptic, narrowly ovate, elliptic-oblong, broadly lanceolate, or ovate, (0–)3(–5)-lobed; lobes ascending or spreading, narrowly lanceolate, short, arising near tip on distal bracts, central lobe apex rounded to truncate, lateral ones acute to rounded. |
(2.5–)5–15 × 2–4.5 cm; bracts proximally greenish, distally scarlet to red or orange-red, rarely yellow or crimson, veins usually yellow or yellow-green, contrasting conspicuously with base color, lanceolate or elliptic to oblanceolate or obovate, 0–3(–5)-lobed; lobes ascending, lanceolate to triangular, medium length, arising above mid length, apex rounded to obtuse. |
Corollas | straight, 17–25 mm; tube 9–13 mm; beak exserted, adaxially green, 6–8(–12) mm, margins red or reddish brown, short-hairy; abaxial lip green, reduced, sometimes exserted, 1.5–2 mm, 10–15% as long as beak, glabrous; teeth erect, green, 0.5–1.5 mm. |
slightly curved, 15–35 mm, subequal to calyx or beak partially to strongly exserted; tube 15–17 mm; beak adaxially yellowish green, 10–16 mm; abaxial lip green, reduced, ± pouched, 0.5–1.5 mm, 4–10% as long as beak; teeth incurved, deep green, 0.7–1 mm. |
Calyces | proximally green to yellowish, distal 1/2 yellow, (16–)18–25 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts (8–)9.5–12.5 mm, 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0.5–5(–6) mm, 5–20% of calyx length; lobes lanceolate to ovate, apex acute to obtuse. |
mostly yellowish throughout, with a thin reddish apex, 15–27 mm; abaxial clefts (5–)9–11 mm, adaxial 4.5–9.5 mm, clefts 25–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–4 mm, 10–20% of calyx length; lobes linear-lanceolate to triangular, apex acute to acuminate, rarely ± obtuse. |
2n | = 24. |
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Castilleja aquariensis |
Castilleja nelsonii |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | Flowering Jun–Oct. |
Habitat | Meadows with sagebrush, openings in spruce-fir forests. | Rocky slopes, meadows, riparian zones, moist ground in open forests, montane to subalpine. |
Elevation | 2900–3400 m. (9500–11200 ft.) | 1900–3100 m. (6200–10200 ft.) |
Distribution |
UT
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AZ; NM; Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango, Nayarit, Sonora)
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Discussion | Castilleja aquariensis is endemic to the Aquarius Plateau in the mountains of south-central Utah. Its meadow habitats were severely degraded by livestock grazing, and at one time the species was a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act of the United States. It is still a species of management concern. Castilleja aquariensis is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Castilleja nelsonii is fairly common in the upper elevations of the so-called sky island ranges from central and eastern Arizona to adjacent New Mexico, southward into the Sierra Madre Occidental, at least as far south as southern Chihuahua, where the type collection was obtained on Cerro Mohinora. Although it was long known in the United States as C. austromontana, the name C. nelsonii has priority. Some specimens from southern Coconino County, Arizona, approach C. miniata, but most material is easily separable. Castilleja nelsonii occasionally hybridizes with C. mogollonica in Apache County, Arizona, near the border of the range of the former. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 589. | FNA vol. 17, p. 633. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. austromontana | |
Name authority | N. H. Holmgren: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 100: 87, fig. 3. (1973) | Eastwood: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 44: 579. (1909) |
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