Perennial. Stems erect or ascending, usually simple, 10–30 cm. Herbage glabrate. Leaves lanceolate, 3–6 cm long, mostly entire. Inflorescence viscid-villous; bracts reddish-purple, ovate, entire or with a pair of small lateral lobes. Flowers: calyx 16–25 mm long, primary clefts slightly greater adjacent to the corolla lip, ultimate lobes rounded to acute, 2–4 mm long; corolla green to red, 24–32 mm long, galea 8–12 mm long, lower lip 1–4 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.
Rhexia-leaf Indian Paintbrush -
Castilleja rhexifolia, native:
* Bracts are reddish-purple.
* Corolla green to red.
* Upper stem with green, entire, non-lobed leaves (except sometimes the uppermost).
* Primary clefts of the calyx are about equal.
* Galea is 8-12 mm. Lower corolla lip is 1-4 mm.
* Inflorescence with viscid-villous hairs.
* Montana plants occur in subalpine to alpine zones.
Western Indian Paintbrush -
Castilleja occidentalis, native:
Hybridizes with
Castilleja rhexifolia resulting in flowers colored from white to purple (Lesica et al. 2012). In Alberta Canada, plants intergrade with
Castilleja sulphurea (Moss and Packer 1983).
* Plants short, 10-20 cm tall.
* Bracts are yellow-white to green, sometimes purple-tipped.
* Upper third of the stem with green, mostly entire, non-lobed leaves.
* Uppermost leaves narrowly lanceolate.
* Inflorescence with viscid-villous hairs.
* Montana plants occur in upper subalpine to alpine zones.
Sulphur Indian Paintbrush -
Castilleja sulphurea, native:
* Bracts and corolla are yellow.
* Foliage is glabrous to puberulent
* Primary clefts of the calyx are slightly deeper adjacent to the corolla lip than compared to the back.
* Galea is 6-10 mm. Lower corolla lip is 1-3 mm.
* Inflorescence with glandular-villous hairs.
* Montana plants occur in valleys to subalpine zones.
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).
