Castilleja caudata : Pale Indian Paintbrush

Scientific Name:

Kingdom: Plantae

Division:

• Tracheophyta (vascular)
• Spermatophyta (seed bearing)
Angiospermae (enclosed seed)

Class: Dicoteldonae (two seed-leaves)

Family: Scrophulariaceae (Figwort Family)

Genera: Castilleja (Indian Paintbrush) (Named for Don Domingo Castellejo, an 18th century Spanish botanist)

Species: caudata (Lat. cauda = tail; perhaps referring to the slender, long-tapering tips of the leaves.)

Synonym(s): C. pallida

English Name(s):

Pale Indian Paintbrush, Port Clarence Indian Paintbrush

First Nation Names:

Structure:

• Plant Herbaceous (Not woody) tufted.
• From a short weak branching taproot.
• Stems few to several, 20-40cm high, glabrous (not hairy), in lower half, finely pubescent (hairy) upwards, and somewhat hirsute (spreading hairs) in inflorescence (flower cluster).

Leaves:

• Lower most leaves narrowly-lanceolate inshape.
• Upper leaves distinctly caudate in shape, up to 1cm broad at point of attachment in tall specimens.
• Surfaces glabrous (hairless) above and finely pubescent (hairy) below.

Reproductive Parts:

• Inflorescence (flower cluster) 5-12 flowered, elongating in age.
• Flowers perfect (bisexual), and irregular in symetry.
• Bracts greenish yellow or cream coloured, somewhat hirsute (spreading hairs), margins mostly entire (smooth), or with upper ones deeply cut into narrow segments.
• Calyx (sepals) 14-23mm long, lateral lobes 3-7mm long.
• Corolla (petals) not much longer tha calyx, upper lip3.5-8.0mm long, greenish, lower lip 2.5-3.0mm long with distinct teeth, yellowish.
• Stamens (male parts) 4, in 2 pairs, anther (top part) sacs unequal.

Seed:

• Fruit a capsule.
• Seed capsules 2-locular (chambered), spliting open lengthwise between the partitions, 8-10mm long.
• Seeds numerous with a coat of large, netted, translucent cells.

Not to Be Confused With:

• Castilleja hyperarctica (Northern Indian Paintbursh) which can be distinguished by its forked leaves.
• Castilleja yukonis (Yukon Indian Paintbursh) which can be distinguished by its side calyx (sepal) lobes much shorter than tube.

Physiology:

• Partially parasitic on roots of other plants. Particularily grass like plants.
• Are capable of carying out thier full life cycle with out parasitizing other plants. However by being parasitic on its nieghbours gives it a strategic advantage.
• This genus is puzzling to the taxonomists, due to the variability of charactaristic features, and due to the presence of hybrids in areas where species meet.

Life Cycle:

• Perennial

Seasonal Cycle:

• plants deciduous (dieing back).
• Blooming mid-July.

Animal Uses:

• Plants in this genus are well suited to the needs of Hummingbirds. Some researchers think Castilleja (Indian Paintbrush) and Hummingbirds may have evolved together. Though there are few to no hummingbirds in Central Yukon.

Habitat:

• In alpine-subarctic moist upland tundra and stony lake shores.

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Traditional Other:

Folklore:

• Nevada Natives believed that the rattlesnake distilled poison from these flowers because they grew near rocks where the snakes lived.
• Tea made from these plants was taken as a love medicine and flower was put into love charms.

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