Castilleja septentrionalis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Orobanchaceae |
Genus: | Castilleja |
Species: | C. septentrionalis |
Binomial name | |
Castilleja septentrionalis | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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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.
According to the White Mountain National Forest botanist Chris Mattrick, "The stunning beauty of the inflorescence stands out in sharp contrast to the green and gray background of the alpine habitats in New England and elicits many complimentary remarks from the passerby." [2]
Castilleja septentrionalis is a perennial herbaceous plant that usually grows to a height of 25–55 centimeters, though will sometimes be as short as 15 centimeters or as tall as 70 centimeters. It typically is found growing in small dense colonies. Like many other Castilleja species, it gets some of its nutrients from parasitizing the roots of other plants. [3] The underground portions of the plant are a woody caudex atop either a single taproot or branched roots that may be either slender or thick. [4] When mature each plant will produce a clump of stems varying in number that either grow straight upwards or curve outward from the base and then upwards. The stems of Castilleja septentrionalis can be either branch or unbranched and are covered in short stiff glandular hairs, though sometimes the base of the stem will be hairless or nearly hairless(glabrous or glabrate). [4]
The leaves of Castilleja septentrionalis are green to purplish in color with a narrow to broad spear-head shape (linear-lanceolate to lanceolate). Usually they are 2–7 centimeters long, though occasionally about 1 centimeters longer. The leaves are sometimes divided into as many as three lobes, each tip of a leaf or lobe will be bluntly pointed, not rounded or very sharp. The leaves are also very thin with very easy to see veins. [4]
Flowering takes place from May to September, occasionally as early as April. The pale yellow-green inflorescences of Castilleja septentrionalis range in size from 2.1–11 centimeters in height and 1.5–4 centimeters in width. The larger part colored parts of the inflorescence are bracts, rather than petals. Though usually sulfurous yellow to green where they attach to the stem, they can be brown-purple near the base. The bracts shade to white, cream, or canary yellow at the tips. Occasionally they can have a rose blush or a touch of buff, or light tan. [4] [3] The shape of the bracts is similar to the leaves on C. septentrionalis, lanceolate to oblong or obovate, sometimes fully lanceolate and with a variable number of lobes from none to three or occasionally as many as five. The central lobe will be bluntly pointed like the leaves while the ones to the sides will be more sharply pointed (acute). [4]
The actual flowers are much smaller, with the flower sepals (calyx) usually 13–23 millimeters in length, or at most 28 millimeters. The sepals are the same color as the larger bracts. The two petals are 18–30 millimeters in length and straight, and are united into a tube 10–20 millimeters long. They are green to yellowish in color. [4]
Castilleja septentrionalis was first scientifically described and named as a species by John Lindley in 1825. [1] The first publication was in volume 11 of The Botanical Register and described a specimen that sprouted and bloomed in a garden in Chiswick in 1824 along with, "wild specimens from Hudson's Bay and Labrador". The living plant was accidentally brought to the UK with other plants in "turfs" imported from Labrador by the Horticultural Society. [5]
In 1900 the Per Axel Rydberg formally published a description from a type specimen collected on Electric Peak in Montana with Charles Edwin Bessey, naming it Castilleja sulphurea. [6] [1]
As of 2023 the Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS database (PLANTS) continues to recognize both Castilleja septentrionalis [7] and Castilleja sulphurea [8] as separate species in the northeast of North America and in the Rocky Mountains respectively. Likewise World Flora Online (WFO) also still lists both as accepted species names. [9] [10] On the other hand Plants of the World Online (POWO) and Flora of North America (FNA) synonymize Castilleja sulphurea with Castilleja septentrionalis as of 2023. [4] [1]
Castilleja septentrionalis was named in binomial name with the genus name honoring Domingo Castillejo and a species name meaning "northern" in Latin. [11] [2] One of its common names, northern paintbrush, is essentially a translation of this binomial. It is more frequently called the "sulfur paintbrush" for the pale yellow blooms that call to mind the soft color of elemental sulfur. [4] It is also known by the common names "pale painted cup", "Labrador Indian paintbrush", "alpine paintbrush", [2] and "northern painted-cup". [12]
Castilleja septentrionalis is a very widespread species being found from the southern Rocky Mountains in New Mexico northwards to the Northwest Territories in Canada and throughout much of eastern Canada and the northern parts of New England. In the US. Rocky Mountain states it grows in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming with a somewhat disjunct population in the Black Hills of South Dakota. [8] [4] [1] In Canada it is found in the Rocky Mountain provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, in the arctic in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, and in Labrador, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Ontario, and Québec. In New England it grows in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont while it is only found rarely in Michigan and Minnesota. [4] [1]
In New Hampshire, it is an alpine obligate, typically found in patch communities associated with heavy late-melting snow, which provides not only moisture but also protection from weather. [13] It is found only in northern regions or at high elevations. [2]
Castilleja septentrionalis was evaluated by NatureServe as a separate species from Castilleja sulphurea with a global status globally secure (G5) in 2015. At the state level they evaluated it as "secure" (S5) in Ontario, "apparently secure" (S4) on the Island of Newfoundland, in Labrador, and in Quebec. In Maine they evaluated the population as "vulnerable" (S3), the Michigan population as "imperiled" S2, and "critically imperiled" (S1) in New Hampshire and Vermont. [14] Likewise they evaluated Castilleja sulphurea in the Rocky Mountains as "globally secure" (G5) in 2002, but only evaluated the populations of Montana and Wyoming, which they found to be "apparently secure" (G4). [15]
Lepechinia fragrans is a flowering herbaceous shrub known by the common names island pitchersage and fragrant pitchersage. It is a member of the Lamiaceae, or mint family, but like other Lepechinia, the flowers are borne in racemes instead of in mintlike whorls.
The Tiburon paintbrush or Tiburon Indian paintbrush is an endangered taxon of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae. It is endemic to the San Francisco Bay Area in California in the United States, where it occurs in Marin, Napa, and Santa Clara Counties.
Pedicularis groenlandica is a showy flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae commonly known as elephant's head, little pink elephant, elephantella, or similar common names inspired by the resemblance of the flower to the head of an elephant. It is also less commonly known as butterfly tongue for the long beak on the flower. Like many other plants in genus Pedicularis, it is a parasitic plant and depends on host plants to survive.
Castilleja densiflora is a herbaceous flowering plant species known by the common names denseflower Indian paintbrush or white / denseflower owlclover. Like other members of the Indian paintbrushes, it is a root-parasite. It is native to California and northern Baja California, where it grows in grassland and chaparral habitat. It is a variable species. It is generally 10 to 40 centimeters tall with linear or lance-shaped leaves up to 8 centimeters long, and with or without lobes. The inflorescence is as small as 3 centimeters or as long as 25 centimeters in length, and has bracts tipped in white to dull or bright pink or purple. Between the bracts appear the flowers, which are somewhat rounded and pouched, and white to yellow to pink or purple in color.
Castilleja foliolosa is a species of Indian paintbrush, known by the common names woolly Indian paintbrush and Texas Indian paintbrush.
Castilleja miniata is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name giant red Indian paintbrush. It is native to western North America from Alaska to Ontario to California to New Mexico, where it grows usually in moist places in a wide variety of habitat types.
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.
Castilleja parviflora is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name mountain Indian paintbrush. It is native to western North America from Alaska to California, where it grows in high mountain habitat, including areas of alpine climate.
Castilleja occidentalis is a member of the genus Castilleja (paintbrush), commonly referred to as western Indian paintbrush. Like other members, it is a hemi-parasite.
Penstemon grandiflorus, known by the common names shell-leaved penstemon, shell-leaf beardtongue, or large-flowered penstemon, is a tall and showy plant in the Penstemon genus from the plains of North America. Due to its large flowers it has found a place in gardens, particularly ones aimed at low water usage like xeriscape gardens.
Castilleja kaibabensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae known by the common name Kaibab Plateau Indian paintbrush. It is endemic to the Kaibab Plateau of Coconino County, Arizona, in the United States.
Castilleja coccinea, commonly known as scarlet Indian paintbrush or scarlet painted-cup, is a biennial flowering plant in the Orobanchaceae (broomrape) family. It is usually found in prairies, rocky glades, moist and open woodlands, thickets, and along streams in central and eastern North America.
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 therefor used in xeriscape gardens and naturalistic meadows, even outside its native range.
Castilleja kerryana is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae. It is commonly known as Kerry's Indian paintbrush or Kerry’spaintbrush. It was formally described in 2013 and so far it is known only from a small population in the state of Montana, in the Northwestern United States.
Salix argyracea is a large shrub from the genus of willow (Salix) with up to 10 centimeters long leaf blades with a felty hairy and shiny underside. The natural range of the species is in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and China.
Castilleja elmeri is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae with the common name Elmer's paintbrush. As with most Castilleja species, this is a facultative root hemiparasite and will usually be seen growing close to a host plant.
Castilleja thompsonii is a species of hemiparasitic perennial herb in the Orobanchaceae family with the common name Thompson's Indian paintbrush. It is native to south central British Columbia and Washington State.
Lupinus caudatus is a widespread species of wildflower in genus Lupinus from western North America known by the common names tailcup lupin and spurred lupin. It is distinctive for the short spur on its purple-blue flowers, for which it is named. Because of its wide distribution and toxicity it commonly causes poisonings of susceptible livestock such as horses, cattle, and sheep, though it is eaten without harm by wild herbivores like deer and elk. It is generally found from the Coastal Ranges and Sierra Nevada Mountains in the west to the Rocky Mountains in the east.
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.