Castilleja chromosa

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Castilleja chromosa
Desert paintbrush, Castilleja chromosa (45706044494).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Orobanchaceae
Genus: Castilleja
Species:
C. chromosa
Binomial name
Castilleja chromosa

Castilleja chromosa, the desert paintbrush, is a species of broomrape found in the western United States. They are distributed in dry scrub, steppe, and desert. They have colorful inflorescence which range from yellow to red in hue. This color is given not by the flowers, which are small, but by the colorful bracts. The plants grow up to nearly half a meter tall; they are slightly bristly and greyish-green; their stems to not branch and their leaves are small and lance-shaped. Partial parasites, they steal some of their nutrients from neighboring plants.

Contents

Description

Half of the bracts are bright red and may be confused with the petals. Desert Paintbrush, San Bernardino County, CA, USA imported from iNaturalist photo 236773609.jpg
Half of the bracts are bright red and may be confused with the petals.

The desert paintbrush, which blooms between May and September, has large, colorful inflorescences between 2.5 and 15 centimeters (1 and 6 in) long and 1.5 to 5.5 cm (0.6 to 2.2 in) wide. [1] The inflorescence is also hirsute to sometimes pilose, covered in coarse hairs or covered in long soft hairs. [2] The bracts are often confused with the petals; the upper half of the bracts are orange or bright red, occasionally yellow, dull orange, or subdued pink. At their base they are more green or a muted purple, [1] but they are never purple towards their ends. [3] Each bract will usually be divided into three, five, or seven primary lobes, [2] however they may occasionally lack divisions or have the lobes further divided into smaller secondary lobes. [1]

The actual flowers are yellowish green with more or less reddish edges, tubular, and unremarkable. [4] The overall length is just 2.1 to 3.2 cm (0.8 to 1.3 in). The lower lip of the tube is reduced and dark green with incurving teeth while the upper beak is more than half the total length of the flower. [3]

As flowering progresses and the seeds begin to develop the inflorescence grows much longer. [2] The fruits measure between 1 and 1.5 centimeters (0.4 and 0.6 in) long; the seeds, 2 mm. [4]

The plants are gray-green perennials that are at times subshrubs, having partly woody stems especially towards their bases. Underground they have a thick taproot topped by a woody caudex. They grow between 15 and 35 centimeters (0.5 and 1.1 ft) tall; though in good conditions they may reach 45 cm (1.5 ft). [1] Plants frequently have many straight to slightly curved, clustered stems that rarely branch higher up; they are more or less covered with bristly hairs. [2]

The leaves may be as little as 1.5 cm in length or as long as 7 cm (2.8 in), but more typically are between 2.5 and 6 cm (1.0 and 2.4 in). They attach alternately to the stems and can be linear, lanceolate, or oblanceolate; narrow like a grass blade, shaped like a spear head, or a reversed spear head with the wider part past the midpoint. Like the bracts they are divided into lobes, most often three or five, but sometimes as many as seven or lacking divisions altogether. [1]

Taxonomy

Castilleja chromosa is classified in the genus Castilleja within the family Orobanchaceae. Its scientific description and name was published by Aven Nelson in 1899. [5] The desert paintbrush is similar to, and often confused with, Castilleja angustifolia. [3] [6] It is known to form hybrids with Castilleja miniata . [7]

Castilleja chromosa has both diploid and tetraploid populations. In a 1977 study no association was found with elevation, but diploid individuals were almost always found with Artemisia tridentata, big sagebrush. [7]

Names

The species name chromosa means "colorful", a reference to the bight colors of its bracts. In English it is often known by the common name desert paintbrush. [2] It is also known as the desert Indian paintbrush – Indian in the context referring to Indigenous people. [8] It is also sometimes called the red desert paintbrush. [9]

Range and habitat

The desert paintbrush is distributed across ten western US states. [5] In California it largely grows east of the Cascade Range, the Sierra Nevada, San Bernardino Mountains, and San Jacinto Mountains. [4] Likewise it is largely native to eastern parts of Oregon with only a few reports of the species west of the Cascades. It grows in most of Idaho, but its exact distribution in Montana and Wyoming is not recorded by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. It also has no exact locations recorded for Nevada, but grows in every county of Utah. [10] In Colorado it grows largely west of the Rocky Mountains. [9] Similary it grows in the northwestern quarter of New Mexico, but all but the southernmost counties of Arizona. [10]

It grow in several different habitats including the sagebrush steppe, blackbrush scrub, piñon–juniper woodlands, and juniper woodlands. [3] The elevation range for the species is quite wide, from 500 to 3,200 meters (1,600 to 10,500 ft). [1]

Ecology

The plants are partially parasitic, using their haustoria to take some, but not all, of the nutrition they require from other plants. The big sagebrush and plants in the aster family are common hosts. [11] [12] In a study of the parasitization of big sagebrush by desert paintbrush they were found to get about 10% of their sugar energy from host plants. [12] In controlled experiments desert paintbrush, like orange paintbrush ( Castilleja integra ) and rough paintbrush ( Castilleja scabrida ), it was tolerant of being without a host species for short periods. [13]

Desert paintbrushes are hyperaccumulators of the element selenium. [14]

Pollinators of the plant include butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees. [8]

Conservation

As of 2024 the conservation status of Castilleja chromosa has not been evaluated by NatureServe. [15]

Related Research Articles

<i>Castilleja</i> Genus of flowering plants belonging to the broomrape family

Castilleja, commonly known as paintbrush, Indian paintbrush, or prairie-fire, is a genus of about 200 species of annual and perennial mostly herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, northern Asia, and one species as far west as the Kola Peninsula in northwestern Russia. These plants are classified in the broomrape family Orobanchaceae. They are hemiparasitic on the roots of grasses and forbs. The genus was named after Spanish botanist Domingo Castillejo.

Castilleja ecuadorensis is a species of plant in the paintbrush genus (Castilleja), part of the broomrape family (Orobanchaceae). It is endemic to Ecuador where it grows at very high elevations, above 3,000 meters, in wet meadows. It was only scientifically described as a species in 1984.

<i>Castilleja angustifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Castilleja angustifolia is a species of wildflower known by the common names northwestern Indian paintbrush and desert Indian paintbrush. It is an herbaceous perennial native to the desert, scrublands, and woodlands of western North America. It grows in hot sandy soils and rock crevices in dry conditions.

<i>Castilleja minor</i> Plant species in the broomrape family

Castilleja minor is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae known as thread-torch paintbrush or seep paintbrush. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California and eastward to the Rocky Mountain states.

<i>Castilleja foliolosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Castilleja foliolosa is a species of paintbrush, known by the common names felt paintbrush and chaparral paintbrush.

<i>Castilleja lineariloba</i> Plant species in the broomrape family

Castilleja lineariloba is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name thin-lobed owl’s clover that is endemic to the grasslands of the Sierra Nevada foothills in California.

<i>Penstemon cinicola</i> Plant species in the plantain family

Penstemon cinicola is a species of penstemon known by the common name ash penstemon. It is native to northeastern California and southern Oregon, where it grows in forests and plateau habitat.

<i>Penstemon deustus</i> Plant species in the plantain family

Penstemon deustus is a species of penstemon known by the common names hotrock penstemon and scabland penstemon. It is native to much of the northwestern United States from the Pacific Northwest to Wyoming, where it grows in many types of forest and open plateau habitat, often on soils heavy in volcanic rock or on limestone outcrops.

<i>Penstemon eatonii</i> Plant species in the plantain family

Penstemon eatonii is a species of flowering plant in the genus Penstemon, known by the common name firecracker penstemon. It is native to the Western United States from Southern California to the Rocky Mountains. It grows in many types of desert, woodland, forest, and open plateau habitat.

<i>Penstemon floridus</i> Plant species in the veronica family

Penstemon floridus is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common names Panamint penstemon and rose penstemon.

<i>Penstemon fruticiformis</i> Plant species in the veronica family

Penstemon fruticiformis is a species of penstemon known by the common name Death Valley penstemon. It is native to the western United States, where it is found growing in rocky scrub, woodlands, deserts and mountains of eastern California and western Nevada. It is known from scattered occurrences around Death Valley, and only one of the two varieties occurs on the Nevada side of the border.

<i>Castilleja septentrionalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Castilleja septentrionalis is a species of Indian paintbrush known by several common names, including northern paintbrush, sulfur paintbrush, and pale painted cup. There is taxonomic disagreement as to if it is one species widely distributed in mountain and alpine environments of North America or if there is a second species, Castilleja sulphurea, in the Rocky Mountains.

<i>Castilleja integra</i> Species of flowering plant

Castilleja integra, with the common names orange paintbrush, Southwestern paintbrush, and wholeleaf paintbrush, is a partially parasitic herbaceous perennial plant native to the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. The species produces a relatively large amount of nectar and is attractive to hummingbirds. It is better suited to cultivation than most other species in the paintbrush genus (Castilleja) and is therefore used in xeriscape gardens and naturalistic meadows, even outside its native range.

<i>Penstemon cyanocaulis</i> Plant species in the plantain family

Penstemon cyanocaulis, the bluestem penstemon or bluestem beardtongue, is a perennial plant in the plantain family (Plantaginaceae) found in the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States.

<i>Castilleja rhexiifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Castilleja rhexiifolia, commonly called rosy paintbrush, subalpine paintbrush, or rhexia-leaved paintbrush, is a species of plant in Orobanchaceae, commonly known as the broomrape family. They are a common flower found in moist habitats near or above timberline in the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Northwest. Like most members of the Castilleja genus, they are partially parasitic plants.

<i>Castilleja lineata</i> Species of plant in the paintbrush flower genus

Castilleja lineata, commonly known as marshmeadow paintbrush or linearlobe paintbrush, is an uncommon species that largely grows in the mountains of northern New Mexico, but is also found in small areas of neighboring Colorado and Arizona. It was not scientifically described until 1901 and is little studied.

<i>Castilleja haydenii</i> Rocky Mountain species of paintbrush flower

Castilleja haydenii, also known as Hayden's paintbrush, is a species of flower found in the mountains of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, generally above timberline in the alpine tundra. Its purple flowers appear in the months of July through September. It was named after the geologist Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden.

<i>Penstemon albifluvis</i> Plant species in the plantain family

Penstemon albifluvis, the White River penstemon, is a disputed species or variety of Penstemon that grows in a small area in eastern Utah and western Colorado. It grows mainly on broken shale and rock formations in desert habitats. White River penstemon is very rare.

<i>Penstemon moffatii</i> Plant species in the veronica family

Penstemon moffatii, commonly called Moffat penstemon, is a flowering plant from the mesas and canyons of western Colorado and eastern Utah.

<i>Castilleja scabrida</i> Plant species in the broomrape family

Castilleja scabrida, commonly known as rough paintbrush or Eastwood paintbrush, is a species of plant in Castilleja, the paintbrush genus from the Intermountain West mainly in the states of Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Egger, J. Mark; Zika, Peter F.; Wilson, Barbara L.; Brainerd, Richard E.; Otting, Nick (29 July 2020) [2019]. "Castilleja chromosa". Flora of North America . p. 595. ISBN   978-0190868512. OCLC   1101573420. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Heil, Kenneth D.; O'Kane, Steve L. Jr.; Reeves, Linda Mary; Clifford, Arnold (2013). Flora of the Four Corners Region: Vascular Plants of the San Juan River Drainage, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah (First ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. p. 690. ISBN   978-1-930723-84-9. ISSN   0161-1542. LCCN   2012949654. OCLC   859541992 . Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Cronquist, Arthur; Holmgren, Arthur H.; Holmgren, Noel H.; Reveal, James L.; Holmgren, Patricia K. (1984). Intermountain Flora : Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A. . Vol. 4. Subclass Asteridae (except Asteraceae) (First ed.). Bronx, New York: New York Botanical Garden. p. 488. ISBN   978-0-231-04120-1. OCLC   320442 . Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Wetherwax, Margriet; Chuang, T.I.; Heckard, Lawrence R. (2012). "Castilleja chromosa". Jepson eFlora. University of California, Berkley. Archived from the original on 14 July 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  5. 1 2 "Castilleja chromosa A.Nelson". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  6. ↑ Nelson, Aven. Underwood, L.M. (ed.). "New Plants from Wyoming – VII". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 26 (5): 245–246. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  7. 1 2 Heckard, Lawrence R.; Chuang, Tsan-Iang (April 1977). "Chromosome Numbers, Polyploidy, and Hybridization in Castilleja (Scrophulariaceae) of the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains". Brittonia. 29 (2): 161, 167. doi:10.2307/2805849.
  8. 1 2 Kennedy, Judy (2018). Menz, Mary (ed.). "Desert Indian Paintbrush". Aquilegia. 42 (1). Colorado Native Plant Society: 10. ISSN   2161-7317 . Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  9. 1 2 Ackerfield, Jennifer (2015). Flora of Colorado (First ed.). Fort Worth, Texas: Botanical Research Institute of Texas Press. p. 567. ISBN   978-1-889878-45-4. OCLC   910162216.
  10. 1 2 NRCS (17 December 2024), "Castilleja chromosa", PLANTS Database, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
  11. ↑ Schneider, Al (n.d.). "Castilleja chromosa". Southwest Colorado Wildflowers. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  12. 1 2 Hansen, David H. (May 1979). "Physiology and Microclimate in a Hemiparasite Castilleja chromosa (Scrophulariacea)". American Journal of Botany. 66 (5): 477–484. doi:10.1002/j.1537-2197.1979.tb06249.x. ISSN   0002-9122.
  13. ↑ Love, Stephen L; McCammon, Tony A (2017). "Compatible host/parasite pairs enhance propagation of paintbrush (Castilleja spp.)". Native Plants Journal. 18 (3): 262, 265. ISSN   1522-8339. JSTOR   26450515.
  14. ↑ Golubkina, Nadezhda; Logvinenko, Lidia; Molchanova, Anna; Caruso, Gianluca (2020). "Genetic and Environmental Influence on Macro- and Microelement Accumulation in Plants of Artemisia Species". In Aftab, Tariq; Hakeem, Khalid Rehman (eds.). Plant Micronutrients: Deficiency and Toxicity Management. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG. p. 405. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-49856-6. OCLC   1184057395.
  15. ↑ NatureServe (6 December 2024). "Castilleja chromosa". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
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