Castilleja gracillima |
Castilleja christii |
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slender Indian paintbrush, slender paintbrush |
Christ's Indian paintbrush, John Christ's paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, 2–5.5 dm; from a remote woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 1.4–3 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. |
Stems | solitary, sometimes few, proximally creeping, becoming rhizomatous, erect to ascending distally, unbranched, sometimes branched, often glabrate proximally, hairy distally, hairs spreading, medium length and long, soft, mixed with much shorter stipitate-glandular ones near inflorescence. |
several, erect to ascending, unbranched, sometimes branched, glabrous or hairs spreading, short and long, ± stiff, sometimes stipitate-glandular especially distally. |
Leaves | green to purplish, linear-lanceolate to broadly lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 1.2–7.1 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes ± wavy, slightly involute, 0-lobed, apex acute to acuminate. |
green, narrowly to broadly lanceolate, (1–)2–5(–6) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat or involute, (0–)3(–5)-lobed, apex acute to rounded; lobes erect or ascending, linear, lanceolate, or triangular, sometimes very small, apex acute to rounded. |
Inflorescences | 4.5–18 × 1.5–6 cm; bracts white, cream, pale yellow, pink, salmon, orange, or dull red throughout, or proximally greenish, distally as above, broadly lanceolate to oblong, 0–3(–5)-lobed; lobes ascending to erect, lanceolate to triangular, often short, arising above mid length, apex obtuse or rounded, sometimes acute or acuminate. |
3–6 × 2–4 cm; bracts proximally greenish, distally pale orange or pale yellow, sometimes red-orange, lanceolate or narrowly elliptic to ovate, sometimes obovate, 3–5-lobed; lobes ascending, linear, medium length to long, arising at or below mid length, apex acute to obtuse. |
Corollas | ± straight, 19–30 mm; tube 11–19 mm; beak exserted from calyx, adaxially green, 7.5–11 mm; abaxial lip deep green, reduced, 1–2 mm, 20% as long as beak; teeth incurved to erect, green, 0.5–1 mm. |
straight, 20–30 mm; tube 12–19 mm; beak exserted, adaxially green, 7–12 mm; abaxial lip green, reduced, included or visible through cleft, 1.5–2 mm, 10–20% as long as beak; teeth incurved, deep green, 1.5 mm. |
Calyces | colored as bracts, pigmentation often confined to lobes, 15–22 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 7–14 mm, 40–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–6.5 mm, 10–20% of calyx length; lobes narrowly triangular to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute (to sometimes acuminate in Logan Valley). |
colored as bracts, 17–22(–24) mm; abaxial clefts 9–12(–13) mm, adaxial 7–11 mm, clefts 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–6.5(–8.5) mm, 20–50% of calyx length; lobes lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to obtuse. |
2n | = 48. |
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Castilleja gracillima |
Castilleja christii |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Aug. | Flowering Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | Mesic or wet, usually flat meadows, sometimes near hot springs, along stream banks, montane. | Gentle slopes, mostly northern aspect, in herbaceous or grassy subalpine to alpine meadows, sagebrush openings and swales, snowbank communities, over quartzite. |
Elevation | 1600–2500 m. (5200–8200 ft.) | 2100–2900 m. (6900–9500 ft.) |
Distribution |
ID; MT; OR; WY
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ID
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Discussion | Castilleja gracillima populations are centered around the Greater Yellowstone region, but its range extends sporadically west to central Oregon. It is sometimes confused with C. miniata, but differs from that species in its floral dimensions, mostly single-stemmed growth form, primarily white, yellow, or pinkish orange bract coloration, puberulent stems, and weakly rhizomatous habit. Where the two grow in the same general region, there is no clear evidence of hybridization; however, C. cusickii and C. gracillima form an extensive, sporadically intergrading population in the Logan Valley, Grant County, Oregon. Plants attributed to this species from the Rocky Mountain trench near the head of the Columbia River in southeastern British Columbia or adjacent Alberta are a combination of several other species, especially Castilleja lutescens and C. miniata. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Castilleja christii is endemic to subalpine meadows near the summit of Mt. Harrison in the Albion Mountains, Cassia County. Morphologically, it most closely resembles the widespread C. hispida var. acuta, but a recent molecular study (D. L. Clay et al. 2012) presents clear evidence for a homoploid hybrid origin for the species, incorporating portions of the genomes of C. linariifolia and C. miniata. This is the first documented case of homoploid origin in Castilleja. Castilleja christii is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 611. | FNA vol. 17, p. 595. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 34: 39. (1907) | N. H. Holmgren: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 100: 91, fig. 5. (1973) |
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