Castilleja integra A.Gray

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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.

Description

Mature individuals of Castilleja integra are typically 9–50 centimeters (3.5–20 in) in size, though they have been reported to grow as tall as 100 centimeters (39 in). All above ground parts of the plants, the leaves, bracts, stems, and flowers, are covered in light coating of soft down, called tomentum by botanists. The herbaceous stems regrow each season from a hard, woody structure called a caudex that is atop a substantial taproot or stout branched roots. The stems either grow straight up from the ground (erect stems) or have a curved bend at their base to grow outwards a short distance then upwards (ascending stems). C. integra may have just one solitary stem or several, they are always unbranched near the base, but may have short branches near the end of the stems.

Castilleja integra has leaves that may range in color from purplish to fully green, but will usually be pale or dusty looking because of the fine, unbranched hairs on the surface. The leaves are always narrow, but vary from being very narrow and thin like a blade of grass (linear leaves) to being almost rectangular, but still not very wide (narrowly oblong leaves). The leaves are usually whole without divisions or toothed edges (entire), but will occasionally have two shallow divisions near the end of the leaf, giving it three lobes. The edges of the leaves can be wavy, but are never thick or fleshy. Often the edges roll inward towards the center of the leaf (involute). The end of the leaves have a narrow point or slightly rounded tip. The length of the leaves can be 1–9 centimeters (0.39–3.5 in), but usually between 2–7 centimeters (0.79–2.8 in).

The cluster of flowers and the surrounding bracts (the inflorescence) can be 2 to 15 centimeters long, though usually less than 10 centimeters.The width is 1.5–4 centimeters (0.59–1.6 in). The showy bracts are variable in color with occasional instances of rose, crimson, cerise, pale salmon, or pale yellow individuals, but most often an intense red-orange or orange flame color. Very often they are the same color on the whole of the bract, but sometimes they are green or a pale straw color at the base. The bracts may be shaped like a skinny spear point (lanceolate), oblong like the leaves, egg shaped (obovate), or intermediate between any of these shapes. The ends of the bracts can be undivided or have three or (rarely) five lobes. The middle or lone end of the bract is always blunt while when side lobes are present their ends are narrow (acute). The total length of the bracts is 20 to 40 millimeters.

The sepals (calyx) have the same color and texture as the bracts and may be 18–38 millimeters long, but are more often between 21 and 35 millimeters in length. The sepals are united into a tube for most of their length with splits towards the end. The splits on the top and bottom are 25–35% of the length, as much as 6–18 millimeters long, but more often 9–16 millimeters in length. The splits towards the sides are shorter, 10–15% of the tube's length. The lobes formed by the splits are lanceolate or triangular in shape with a rounded or narrow point.

Castilleja integra has true petals that are fused into a tube for much of their length. The overall length of the petals is usually 25–45 millimeters, but may be as little as 21 mm or as much as 50 mm in exceptional cases. The length of the tube portion of the flower petals is 17–33 millimeters. The beak, the pointed end of the flower petals, is green in color on the upper surface and either only slightly shorter than the sepals to projecting well beyond them. The beak ranges in size from 8–18 millimeters, but is most often in the range of 10–17 millimeters. The lower lip is always dark green and 20% as long as the beak.

The flowering season is very extended due to the wide range of elevations where the flowers are found, most often in March to October, but occasionally as early as January. In Colorado the blooming season starts in June and continues through August. The seeds are contained within a capsule 12–16 millimeters long.

Similar species that it may be confused with include Castilleja lanata and Castilleja miniata. The combination of undivided leaves that strongly roll inward (involute), the soft unbranched downy hairs, and usually undivided bracts help to distinguish Castilleja integra from its relatives.

Castilleja integra - Wikipedia

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