Montana Field Guide

Perennial. Stems erect, simple, 20–50 cm. Herbage puberulent. Leaves 2–7 cm long, linear to linear-lanceolate, the upper with 1 pair of linear lobes. Inflorescence glandular-puberulent, villous; bracts bright red, lanceolate with 1 or 2 pairs of lateral lobes. Flowers: calyx 20–28 mm long, primary clefts deeper in front than in back, lobes acute to acuminate, 3–8 mm long; corolla 26–36 mm long, galea 10–13 mm long, lower lip green, minute (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.

Castilleja linariifolia and Castilleja crista-galli can be mistaken for one another. It is speculated that Castilleja crista-galli is a hybrid product of Castilleja linariifolia x Castilleja miniata, because it can exhibit intermediate morphology. Studies are needed.

Greater Red Indian Paintbrush – Castilleja crista-galli, native:
* Inflorescence bracts are bright red.
* Primary calyx lobes are cleft deeper in front than in the back.
* Calyx lobes are acute to acuminate.

Wyoming Indian Paintbrush – Castilleja linariifolia, native:
* Inflorescence bracts yellow to orange.
* Flowers become more widely separated at maturity (than does C. crista-galli)
* Calyx is conspicuously more deeply cleft on the side adjacent to the corolla lip than on the back. Calyx is curved back.
* Calyx lobes are acute.

Meadows and grasslands in the montane to alpine zones (Lesica et al. 2012).

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).