Castilleja minor
{{Short description|Plant species in the broomrape family}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Castilleja minor ssp minor 1.jpg
| image_caption = var. minor
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status2 = {{TNCStatus}}
| status2_system = TNC
| genus = Castilleja
| species = minor
| authority = (A.Gray) A.Gray
| subdivision_ranks = Varieties
| subdivision_ref = {{cite POWO |id=30474499-2 |title=Castilleja minor (A.Gray) A.Gray |access-date=11 August 2024}}
| subdivision = {{Species list
| Castilleja minor var. exilis | (A.Nelson) J.M.Egger
| Castilleja minor var. minor |
| Castilleja minor var. spiralis | (Jeps.) J.M.Egger
| Castilleja minor var. stenantha | (A.Gray) J.M.Egger
}}
| synonyms = {{Species list
| Castilleja affinis var. minor | A.Gray
}}
}}
Castilleja minor is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae known as thread-torch paintbrush or seep paintbrush. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California and eastward to the Rocky Mountain states.
Description
Castilleja minor is annual plant that typically grows {{convert|20–100|cm|in|0|sp=us}} tall, but occasionally may reach as much as {{convert|1.5|m|ft|sp=us}}. It may have a short taproot or small fibrous root system.{{cite web |last1=Egger |first1=J. Mark |last2=Zika |first2=Peter F. |last3=Wilson |first3=Barbara L. |last4=Brainerd |first4=Richard E. |last5=Otting |first5=Nick |title=Castilleja minor |url=http://floranorthamerica.org/Castilleja_minor |website=Flora of North America |access-date=11 August 2024 |date=6 November 2020}} The stems are usually without branches and sparsely covered in loose, pilose hairs, ones that are long and straight. Each plant will have either just a few stems or one alone.{{cite book |last1=Heil |first1=Kenneth D. |last2=O'Kane, Jr. |first2=Steve L. |last3=Reeves |first3=Linda Mary |last4=Clifford |first4=Arnold |date=2013 |title=Flora of the Four Corners Region: Vascular Plants of the San Juan River Drainage, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah |url=https://archive.org/details/mobot31753003888887/page/n709 |language=en |edition= |location=St. Louis, Missouri |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |pages=692–693 |isbn=978-1-930723-84-9 |issn=0161-1542 |lccn=2012949654 |oclc=859541992 |access-date=28 September 2024}} Sometimes the hairs are shaggy and this characteristic is associated with Castilleja minor var. minor.
The leaves of thread-torch paintbrush vary widely in size, from as short as 2 centimeters or as long as 10 cm, and are just 2–5 millimeters wide near the base. They also vary widely in color from purple to green and may have a little or a significant gray cast. They may be linear, narrow like a blade of grass, or lanceolate, shaped like a spear point with the widest part below the midpoint of the leaf. The leaves have a soft texture and are not divided into lobes.
The inflorescence is narrow,{{cite web |url=https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=18256 |title=Castilleja minor |last1=Wetherwax |first1=Margriet |last2=Chuang |first2=T.I. |last3=Heckard |first3=Lawrence R. |author-link3=Lawrence Ray Heckard |date=2012 |website=Jepson eFlora |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |language=en |access-date=28 September 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240917163145/https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=18256 |archive-date=17 September 2024}} 5–40 centimeters long and just 1–4 cm wide. The flowers are also, long, narrow, and threadlike.
Taxonomy
Castilleja minor was first scientifically described by Asa Gray as a variety of Castilleja affinis as Castilleja affinis var. minor in 1859. In 1876 he published a revision of his previous classification, changing it to a species with its present name.
Castilleja minor has four accepted varieties.
{{Species list
| Castilleja minor var. exilis | (A.Nelson) J.M.Egger
| Castilleja minor var. minor |
| Castilleja minor var. spiralis | (Jeps.) J.M.Egger
| Castilleja minor var. stenantha | (A.Gray) J.M.Egger
}}
=Names=
In English it is known by the common names of thread-torch paintbrush,{{cite book |last1=Niehaus |first1=Theodore F. |title=A Field Guide to Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers |date=1998 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0-585-36531-2 |pages=250–251 |url=https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetosout0000nieh/page/250 |language=en}} seep paintbrush, or annual paintbrush.{{cite book |last1=Keator |first1=Glenn |last2=Middlebrook |first2=Alrie |title=Designing California Native Gardens : The Plant Community Approach to Artful, Ecological Gardens |date=2007 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, California |isbn=978-0-520-23978-4 |language=en}} In the early 1900s it was also known as small-flowered painted-cup.{{cite book |last1=Britton |first1=Nathaniel Lord |author1-link=Nathaniel Lord Britton |title=Manual of the Flora of the Northern States and Canada |date=1907 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |location=New York |page=840 |url=https://archive.org/details/manualcan00brit/page/840 |access-date=28 September 2024}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q5049917}}
Category:Flora of the Northwestern United States
Category:Flora of the Southwestern United States