Castilleja ornata
Castilleja glandulifera
glowing Indian paintbrush, ornate paintbrush
gland Indian paintbrush, glandular paintbrush, sticky paintbrush
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.
few to many, erect or ascending, sometimes decumbent, unbranched or often branched proximally, hairs spreading, medium length and long, soft, mixed with more abundant stipitate-glandular ones.
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.
green, linear-lanceolate to sometimes narrowly oblong or narrowly oblanceolate, 0.7–3.7 cm, not fleshy, margins wavy, involute, 0(–5)-lobed, apex acute;
lateral lobes ascending to erect, narrowly lanceolate to narrowly oblong, usually narrower than center lobe, apex acute.
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.
2.5–10 × 2–5 cm;
bracts proximally pale green to pale yellow, distally yellow, whitish, pink, dull red, or purple on apices (sometimes gradually differentiated from proximal coloration), lanceolate, broadly lanceolate, or oblong, 3–5(–7)-lobed, sometimes with secondary lobes;
lobes ascending to spreading, linear, sometimes rounded, medium length or distal short, arising near mid length, apex acute to rarely obtuse.
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.
straight or slightly curved, (20–)22–30 mm;
tube 15 mm;
abaxial lip usually hidden or just visible in abaxial calyx notch, not exserted/longer than calyx, beak exserted;
beak straight or slightly curved, adaxially green, 8–11(–12) mm;
abaxial lip deep green to yellow, reduced, slightly pouched, 1–2.5 mm, to 20% as long as beak;
teeth incurved, green to yellow, 0.5–1 mm.
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.
proximally green or pale, distally colored as bracts, 17–21(–23) mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts 4–8 mm, 33–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–6 mm, 15–33% of calyx length;
lobes linear, narrowly lanceolate, or narrowly triangular to oblong, apex acute.
= 24.
Castilleja ornata
Castilleja glandulifera
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.)
Castilleja glandulifera is endemic to the upper elevations of the Blue and Strawberry mountains of northeastern Oregon, as well as a few adjacent minor ranges. It is related to C. applegatei and C. viscidula, which are the source of reports of C. glandulifera in the Wallowa Mountains and on Steens Mountain. Inflorescences of C. glandulifera are usually white to pale yellow, but in the area around Marble Creek Pass in Baker County, they are multicolored, with a variety of reddish shades mixed in among the yellowish plants. Castilleja glandulifera and C. viscidula share a glandular pubescence, divided leaves, and usually yellowish inflorescences. Castilleja glandulifera is distinguished from C. viscidula by its taller stature, longer corolla beak, and more deeply divided leaves and bracts with linear to linear-lanceolate lobes. Castilleja glandulifera differs from C. applegatei by its unusual leaves and bracts as well as by its habitat and narrower and somewhat shorter corolla beak.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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