Castilleja cinerea
Castilleja cryptantha
ash-gray Indian paintbrush, ash-gray paintbrush
Mt. Rainier or obscure paintbrush, obscure Indian paintbrush, obscure paintbrush
several to many, erect to ascending, or decumbent, inflorescence erect in high-elevation form, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs dense, spreading, ashy gray, short and long, soft, mixed with short stipitate-glandular ones.
few to several, erect or ascending, unbranched, hairs spreading, long, soft, eglandular, mixed with short stipitate-glandular ones.
green, brown, purple, or deep gray, linear or narrowly to broadly lanceolate to sometimes ovate, 0.7–3 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, slightly involute, 0(–3)-lobed, apex acuminate;
lobes ascending to spreading, linear to lanceolate, apex acuminate.
green, often with brown or purple veins, narrowly to broadly lanceolate, 1.5–4 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, ± involute, 0–3-lobed, apex acute to acuminate;
lobes spreading-ascending, narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to ± obtuse.
1–8.5 × 2–5 cm;
bracts proximally greenish or deep reddish purple, distally burnt orange, sometimes yellow or deep red to deep burgundy, proximal sometimes lanceolate with narrow lobes, distal or all bracts broadly lanceolate to oblong or slightly oblanceolate, (0–)3–5-lobed, appearing dusty with dense, short stipitate-glandular hairs, many with a nodulose to pillarlike, crystallized, usually pigmented exudate, papillose at 40x;
lobes ascending-spreading, oblong or oblanceolate, short, arising above mid length, central lobe apex rounded, often expanded, rounded, or truncate, lateral ones acute to rounded.
(2.5–)3–6 × 1–2 cm; green to dull brown or dull reddish purple throughout, or proximally green to dull brown or dull reddish purple, distally yellow on apices, broadly lanceolate to ovate, (0–)3-lobed;
lobes ascending, narrowly lanceolate, long or short, arising near mid length, apex acute or acuminate.
straight, 12–18 mm;
tube 9–14 mm;
beak included or tip just barely exserted, adaxially green or pale yellow to deep burgundy, 3–5 mm;
abaxial lip green, burgundy, or reddish purple (in high-elevation form), little inflated, small, included, 2 mm, to 20% as long as beak;
teeth incurved, green, 0.2–0.5 mm.
straight, 14–16 mm;
tube 11–14 mm;
whole corolla included within calyx;
beak adaxially pale yellow, 1–2 mm;
abaxial lip deep green, slightly inflated, 4–5 mm, 67% as long as beak;
teeth ascending, pale, 1.5–2 mm.
colored as bracts, sometimes whitish proximally, 1.5–20 mm (shorter in upper elevation form);
abaxial and adaxial clefts 3.5–8 mm, 30–50% of calyx length, all 4 clefts subequal;
lobes linear to narrowly oblong or oblanceolate, apex obtuse to rounded, densely stipitate-glandular.
proximally green or pale with green veins, lobes yellow, sometimes becoming deep red with age, 12–15 mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts 3–7 mm, 25–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1–3(–4) mm, 8–20% of calyx length;
lobes triangular, adaxial segments longer than abaxials, apex acute or obtuse.
= 24.
Castilleja cinerea
Castilleja cryptantha
Castilleja cinerea is endemic to the higher elevations of the San Bernardino Mountains, San Bernardino County. Most plants are upright to ascending and have yellow to yellow-orange inflorescences, with occasional plants ranging to dull red, especially with age. On Sugarloaf Mountain, mostly above 2700 m, is a distinctive form with consistently reddish purple to burgundy inflorescences and a strongly decumbent growth form.
Castilleja cinerea is most often associated with and likely parasitic on Artemisia nova and Eriogonum species. Castilleja cinerea is known from few populations and is threatened by livestock grazing, development, and vehicle use. It is listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of the United States.
The crystalline exudate associated with the stipitate-glandular pubescence of the distal portion of the bracts is unique in the genus.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Castilleja cryptantha is endemic to the vicinity of Mt. Rainier in the Cascade Range, with most populations found within Mt. Rainier National Park. Unlike most species of Castilleja, it is apparently self-pollinating (W. J. Duffield 1972); the small flowers are entirely enclosed within the yellowish calyces, which tend to grow deep reddish as they age. The purplish brown bracts are also unusual in the genus.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
