Castilleja miniata var. fulva

Herbs 4–5 dm; with a taproot. Stems glabrous or glabrate proximally, hairy distally, hairs sparse, spreading, long, soft to ± stiff, short stipitate-glandular. Leaves narrowly lanceolate to narrowly ovate, thin and not fleshy, margins plane, flat, usually 0-lobed, apex acuminate to acute. Bracts distally pale yellowish, pale orange, or salmon, sometimes pale red, 0–3(–7)-lobed, central lobe sometimes distally apiculate; central lobe apex rounded, lateral ones acute to acuminate. Calyces 15–21 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 10 mm, 50–70% of calyx length, abaxial slightly deeper than adaxial, lateral 1–6 mm, 5–30% of calyx length; lobes narrowly lanceolate to narrowly triangular, apex acute to acuminate. Corollas 20–27 mm; beak 9–11 mm; abaxial lip green, 1–1.5 mm, 10–20% as long as beak. 2n = 96.

Phenology: Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat: Damp low thickets, grassy verges, roadsides, forest edges.
Elevation: 600–1600 m.

Alta., B.C., Yukon.

Discussion

Variety fulva is found widely in central and northern British Columbia, as well as in the Peace River valley in adjacent west-central Alberta and southern Yukon, substantially but not entirely replacing var. miniata in these regions. The inflorescences are consistently yellow to pale tawny orange within populations and have a distinctive morphology, though overlapped by the wide range of variation in var. miniata. It is not known if the distinctive coloration of var. fulva represents introgression from Castilleja unalaschcensis, or if these populations might have diverged in isolation on a nunatak during the last extensive glaciation, as postulated by F. W. Pennell (1934b).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa