Castilleja minor | |
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var. minor | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Orobanchaceae |
Genus: | Castilleja |
Species: | C. minor |
Binomial name | |
Castilleja minor (A.Gray) A.Gray | |
Varieties [3] | |
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Synonyms [3] | |
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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.
Castilleja minor is annual plant that typically grows 20–100 centimeters (8–39 in) tall, but occasionally may reach as much as 1.5 meters (4.9 ft). It may have a short taproot or small fibrous root system. [4] The stems are usually without branches and sparsely covered in loose, pilose hairs, ones that are long and straight. Each plant will have either just a few stems or one alone. [5] Sometimes the hairs are shaggy and this characteristic is associated with Castilleja minor var. minor. [4]
The leaves of thread-torch paintbrush vary widely in size, from as short as 2 centimeters or as long as 10 cm, [4] and are just 2–5 millimeters wide near the base. [5] They also vary widely in color from purple to green and may have a little or a significant gray cast. They may be linear, narrow like a blade of grass, or lanceolate, shaped like a spear point with the widest part below the midpoint of the leaf. [4] The leaves have a soft texture and are not divided into lobes. [4] [5]
The inflorescence is narrow, [6] 5–40 centimeters long and just 1–4 cm wide. [4] The flowers are also, long, narrow, and threadlike. [7]
Castilleja minor was first scientifically described by Asa Gray as a variety of Castilleja affinis as Castilleja affinis var. minor in 1859. In 1876 he published a revision of his previous classification, changing it to a species with its present name. [3]
Castilleja minor has four accepted varieties. [3]
In English it is known by the common names of thread-torch paintbrush, [7] seep paintbrush, [4] or annual paintbrush. [8] In the early 1900s it was also known as small-flowered painted-cup. [9]
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.
Castilleja exserta is a species of plant in the genus Castilleja which includes the Indian paintbrushes. Its common names include purple owl's clover, escobita, and exserted Indian paintbrush.
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.
Castilleja rubicundula is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name cream sacs. It is native to northern California and southwestern Oregon. It is found in coastal and inland grasslands.
Castilleja affinis is a species of Castilleja known by the common name coast Indian paintbrush.
Castilleja foliolosa is a species of paintbrush, known by the common names felt paintbrush and chaparral paintbrush.
Castilleja grisea is a rare species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name San Clemente Island Indian paintbrush. It is endemic to San Clemente Island, one of the Channel Islands of California. San Clemente Island is owned by the US Navy so the Navy is involved in a management program to recover this species.
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.
Castilleja mollis is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name softleaf Indian paintbrush. It is endemic to the Channel Islands of California, where it is currently known only from Santa Rosa Island. An occurrence was once noted on San Miguel Island, but the plant has not been found there since 1938. Its habitat is the coastal sage scrub around the windy sand dunes and bluffs.
Penstemon anguineus is a species of penstemon known by the common name Siskiyou penstemon. It is native to the mountains of southern Oregon and northern California, where it grows in coniferous forests, often in open areas left by logging operations.
Stachys chamissonis is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name coastal hedgenettle. It is a perennial herb native to the west coast of North America, where it grows in moist coastal habitat from Alaska to central California. This mint produces an erect stem 1 to 2+1⁄2 meters. It is hairy, glandular, and aromatic. The oppositely arranged leaves have pointed, wavy-edged blades up to 18 centimeters (7.1 in) long which are borne on petioles. The hairy, glandular inflorescence is made up of interrupted clusters of up to six flowers each. The flower has a deep pink tubular corolla which can be over 3 centimeters (1.2 in) long. The corollas are borne in hairy calyces of purple or purple-tinged sepals.
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.
Liatris punctata is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names dotted gayfeather, dotted blazingstar, and narrow-leaved blazingstar. It is native to North America, where it occurs throughout the plains of central Canada, the central United States, and northern Mexico.
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.
Castilleja chromosa, the desert paintbrush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae found in the western United States. They are distributed in dry scrub, steppe, and desert. They have colorful inflorescences 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 and are slightly bristly and greyish-green. Their stems do not branch, and their leaves are small and lance-shaped. Partial parasites, they steal some of their nutrients from neighboring plants.
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.
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.
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.
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.