Perennial. Stems erect, simple, 5–12 cm. Herbage puberulent to villous. Leaves linear, 2–4 cm long, the lower entire, upper 3-lobed. Inflorescence villous-tomentose; bracts yellow- to purple-tipped, lanceolate with a pair of linear lobes. Flowers: calyx yellow, linear-lanceolate, 15–20 mm long, subequally cleft into 4 linear-lanceolate lobes, 4–5 mm long; corolla 10–22 mm long, galea 4–6 mm long, lower lip 2–3 mm long (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Castilleja is a difficult genus because hybridization and allopolyploid speciation (containment of multiple sets of chromosomes that are derived from different species) fuzz a species’ characteristics (Giblin et al. [eds.] 2018).
To identify
Castilleja species, it is important to (Giblin et al. [eds.] 2018):
* note colors of the bract, calyx, and corolla while in the field, and
* press many bracts, calyces, and corollas separately to show their shapes.
Snow Indian Paintbrush -
Castilleja nivea, native:
* Bracts are yellow to purple-tipped and woolly-villous.
* Upper third of the stem with green, lobed leaves.
* Lobes of the calyx are cleft to about the same length.
* Inflorescence villous-tomentose.
* Montana plants occur in the alpine zone (turf and fellfields).
Parrot-head Indian Paintbrush -
Castilleja pilosa var.
longispica, native:
* Bracts are green to yellow or purplish.
* Upper third of the stem with green, lobed leaves.
* Lobes of the calyx are cleft to about the same length.
* Inflorescence with puberulent to sparsely villous hairs.
* Montana plants occur in montane to subalpine zones.
Pallid Indian Paintbrush -
Castilleja pallescens, native:
* Bracts are green to yellow or purple-tipped. Calyx is yellow.
* Upper third of the stem with green, often with linear lobed leaves, or at least the central lobe is linear.
* Lobes of the calyx are cleft more deeply in front and back than compared to the sides.
* Ultimate calyx lobes are acute to acuminate.
* Galea is 2-4 mm. Lower corolla lip is 2-3 mm. Thus, lower lip is more than half the length of the galea.
* Inflorescence with puberulent to pilose hairs.
* Montana plants occur in valleys to alpine zones.
Alpine tundra and fellfields.
POLLINATORS The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap:
Bombus appositus,
Bombus bifarius,
Bombus fervidus,
Bombus flavifrons,
Bombus melanopygus,
Bombus sylvicola,
Bombus occidentalis, and
Bombus kirbiellus (Macior 1974, Thorp et al. 1983, Bauer 1983, Mayer et al. 2000, Wilson et al. 2010, Pyke et al. 2012, Koch et al. 2012, Miller-Struttmann and Galen 2014, Williams et al. 2014).
