Herbs 0.8–4.4 dm. Leaves 0–5(–7)-lobed, lobes ascending-spreading. Bracts 5–7(–9)-lobed. Corollas: abaxial lip light to bright yellow, in most populations quickly fading to white and in a few populations then to pink or pink-purple, small purple or reddish dots near base, teeth yellow or white.

Phenology: Flowering Apr–Jun(–Jul).
Habitat: Grasslands, damp flats, springs, vernal pools, roadbanks, coastal valleys and foothills, sometimes on serpentine.
Elevation: 0–2100 m.

Distribution

• Generated Map
• Legacy Map

Calif., Oreg.

Discussion

Variety lithospermoides is found in open grassland valleys along the North Coast and west of the Sierra Nevada in central and north-central California, especially in the regions west of the Sacramento Valley. It is known in southern Oregon from a single collection by T. J. Howell in the late 1800s and is apparently extirpated from that state. Variety lithospermoides is similar to and sometimes confused with Castilleja lacera or with Triphysaria versicolor subsp. faucibarbata. A peculiar form from Inverness, Marin County, was named Orthocarpus noctuinus Eastwood and later treated by some as a hybrid with C. densiflora.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.