Castilleja affinis var. affinis

Illustrator: John Myers

Copyright: Flora of North America Association

Stems: hairs sparse or dense, unbranched, rarely branched. Leaves not or ± fleshy. Inflorescences (2.5–)3–5 cm wide; bracts proximally green or deep purple, distally bright red to red-orange, crimson, or scarlet, rarely yellow, orange, rose, magenta, or pinkish red, 5(–7)-lobed. Calyces colored as bracts, or yellow with red (or light orange or yellow) lobes, sometimes white with colored lobes, 20–35 mm. Corollas (21–)25–40 mm; beak usually long-exserted, sometimes slightly so, 12–20 mm.

Phenology: Flowering Feb–Aug(–Oct).
Habitat: Chaparral slopes, openings, open woods, coastal scrub, stabilized dunes.
Elevation: 0–1900 m.

Distribution

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• Legacy Map

Calif., Mexico (Baja California).

Discussion

Plants of var. affinis of the immediate coast have more or less fleshy leaves. Populations with somewhat inflated and distinctively colored calyces, with yellow tubes and red lobes, are found from Point Reyes south to San Mateo County and have been called Castilleja inflata. A similar situation occurs on the northern Channel Islands, where plants with shorter corollas and paler inflorescences were named subsp. insularis. Their indument includes some branched hairs, which might cause them to be identified as the strictly mainland var. contentiosa. Hybrids with C. wightii are known from Marin County, California.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.