Castilleja chromosa

A. Nelson

Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 26: 245. 1899.

Common names: Desert paintbrush
IllustratedEndemic
Synonyms: Castilleja ewanii Eastwood C. martini subsp. ewanii (Eastwood) Munz C. martini var. ewanii (Eastwood) N. H. Holmgren
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 17. Treatment on page 595. Mentioned on page 567, 576, 586, 587, 588, 594, 596, 608, 612, 622, 633, 643, 654, 655.

Herbs, sometimes subshrubs, perennial, 1.5–3.5 (–4.5) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. Stems several to many, ascending to erect, often grayish, unbranched, rarely branched, sometimes with short, leafy axillary branches, hairs spreading-erect, long, stiff, eglandular, sometimes also with shorter, stipitate-glandular ones. Leaves gray-green, linear, lanceolate, or oblanceolate, sometimes broadly lanceolate, (1.5–) 2.5–6 (–7) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, (0–) 3–5 (–7) -lobed, sometimes with secondary lobes, apex acuminate to obtuse; lobes spreading, linear, apex acuminate. Inflorescences 2.5–15 (much longer in fruit) × 1.5–5.5 cm; bracts proximally greenish to dull purplish, distally bright red to scarlet or orange-red, rarely yellowish to dull orange or pink, narrowly to broadly linear or lanceolate, narrowly ovate, or oblong-lanceolate, (0–) 3–7-lobed, rarely with secondary lobes; lobes spreading, linear to oblong, sometimes oblanceolate, often expanded near tip, long, proximal lobes arising below mid length, apex rounded or obtuse to sometimes acute. Calyces colored as bracts, sometimes with broad yellow band below colored lobe apices, (17–) 20–27 mm; abaxial clefts 4–10 mm, adaxial 6–12 mm, abaxial ca. 30% of calyx length, adaxial ca. 40% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1–4 mm, ca. 15% of calyx length; lobes oblong or ovate to narrowly triangular or lanceolate, apex obtuse to rounded. Corollas straight or ± curved, 18–35 (–40) mm; tube 8–15 mm; beak short or long-exserted, adaxially green to yellow-green, (9–) 10–18 mm; abaxial lip deep green, reduced, thickened, included to exserted, 2–3 mm, ca. 20% as long as beak; teeth incurved, deep green, 0.5–1 mm. 2n = 24, 48.


Phenology: Flowering (Feb–)Mar–Aug(–Nov).
Habitat: Dry sagebrush slopes and flats, pinyon-juniper stands, blackbrush, open yellow pine forests.
Elevation: 500–3200 m.

Distribution

Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Nev., N.Mex., Oreg., Utah, Wyo.

Discussion

Castilleja chromosa is sometimes confused with 3b. C. angustifolia var. dubia (see discussion there). Castilleja chromosa retains its distinctive morphology across its wide range and is a characteristic species of much of the southwestern United States. Where it overlaps with C. angustifolia, the two are distinguished by inflorescence color and width and by the lengths of the calyx, corolla, and corolla beak. In the broad region of their sympatry, there is little evidence of intergradation, except in a few sites in Elko County, Nevada, and in southern Wyoming. Throughout southern Idaho and northeastern Nevada the range of the two overlap with little or no intergradation. At high elevations in Montrose County, Colorado, C. chromosa has narrower leaves and a longer and silkier pubescence, especially in the inflorescence. Apparent hybrids between C. chromosa and C. flava var. rustica are known from Custer County, Idaho, and hybrids with C. linariifolia are known from Montrose County, Colorado.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"dm" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.

... more about "Castilleja chromosa"
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
included +  and exserted +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
obtuse +  and rounded +
J. Mark Egger +, Peter F. Zika +, Barbara L. Wilson +, Richard E. Brainerd +  and Nick Otting +
A. Nelson +
0.9 cm9 mm <br />0.009 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
long-exserted +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.8 cm18 mm <br />0.018 m <br />) +
not +, leathery +  and fleshy +
proximally greenish;dull purplish distally bright red +
(0-)3-7-lobed +, oblong-lanceolate +, ovate +, lanceolate +  and linear +
1.7 cm17 mm <br />0.017 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
2-lobed +, lobed +  and tubular +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (2.7 cm27 mm <br />0.027 m <br />) +
taprooted;fibrous-rooted or rhizomatous +
fleshy +  and woody +
Desert paintbrush +
3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br /> (4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br />) +
purple +, pink +, red +, orange +, yellow +, white +, green +  and pale greenish +
curved +  and straight +
divided +  and tubular +
1.8 cm18 mm <br />0.018 m <br /> (3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br />) +
Ariz. +, Calif. +, Colo. +, Idaho +, Nev. +, N.Mex. +, Oreg. +, Utah +  and Wyo. +
500–3200 m. +
spreading-hairy +  and glabrous +
2 +  and 1 +
indehiscent +, septicidal +, loculicidal +  and dehiscence +
Dry sagebrush slopes and flats, pinyon-juniper stands, blackbrush, open yellow pine forests. +
spreading-erect +
stipitate-glandular +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
axillary +  and terminal +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (5.5 cm55 mm <br />0.055 m <br />) +
spiral +, whorled +, alternate +  and opposite +
6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br /> (7 cm70 mm <br />0.07 m <br />) +
gray-green +
deciduous +
basal +  and cauline +
lanceolate;oblanceolate;lanceolate;oblanceolate;lanceolate;linear +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
not fleshy +
3 (?) +, 2 (?) +  and 4 (?) +
ovate +  and narrowly triangular or lanceolate +
expanded +
(0-)3-5(-7)-lobed +  and plane +
stipitate-glandular +
tenuinucellate +  and unitegmic +
campylotropous-like +
Flowering (Feb–)Mar–Aug(–Nov). +
Bull. Torrey Bot. Club +
stramineous +
20 +  and 100 +
trapezoidal +, oblong-ovoid +, pyramidal +  and ovoid +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
non-secund +  and secund +
elongate +
subequal +
branched +  and unbranched +
sprawling +  and prostrate +
aerial +  and subterranean +
ascending +  and erect +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
several;many +
not fleshy +
2-lobed +  and entire +
Castilleja ewanii +, C. martini subsp. ewanii +  and C. martini var. ewanii +
Castilleja chromosa +
Castilleja +
species +
reduced +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
herb +  and subshrub +