Castilleja wootonii

Herbs, perennial, 1.6–6.5 dm; from a woody caudex; with a woody taproot or branching roots. Stems solitary or few-to-many, erect, unbranched to much-branched, glabrous or hairy proximally and/or distally, hairs sparse to dense, spreading to erect, short to fairly long, soft, eglandular. Leaves green, narrowly lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, linear, or narrowly elliptic, 2–8 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes ± wavy, flat or involute, 0 (–5) -lobed, apex acuminate; lobes widely spreading, linear to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute. Inflorescences 3–16 × 2–3.5 cm; bracts proximally greenish, distally red to orange-red, sometimes with a purplish medial band, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate or ovate in outline, (0–) 3–5 (–7) -lobed, sometimes also with 4 small teeth; lobes ascending, linear-lanceolate, long, arising above or below mid length, apex acuminate, acute, or obtuse. Calyces proximally green, distally red, 20–25 mm; abaxial clefts 11–14 (–17) mm, adaxial 8–9 mm, abaxial 50–60% of calyx length, adaxial 35–40% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 5–7 mm, 10–15% of calyx length; lobes lanceolate to narrowly triangular, apex acute to acuminate. Corollas slightly to moderately curved distally, 25–37 mm; tube 16–20 mm; beak exserted 10–16 mm beyond calyx, adaxially green to yellowish, 11–25 mm; abaxial lip green or red, small, inconspicuous, visible through cleft of calyx, 2 mm, 15–20% as long as beak; teeth incurved, green or red, 0.7–1.5 mm.

Phenology: Flowering Jun–Sep.
Habitat: Grasslands, rocky slopes, ledges, canyons, open forests, montane to subalpine.
Elevation: 2000–3700 m.

N.Mex., Tex.

Discussion

Castilleja wootonii is endemic to the White Mountains (Sierra Blanca) in south-central New Mexico and to the Mt. Livermore massif of western Texas. It should be sought in the intervening Guadalupe Mountains. Based on morphology, C. wootonii appears to be a southern derivative of C. linariifolia.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa