Castilleja disticha Eastw.
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Authority
Holmgren, Noel H. 1971. A taxonomic revision of the Castilleja viscidula group. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 21: 1-63.
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Family
Scrophulariaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type. California, Fresno County, Converse Basin, South Fork of King's River, 1-3 Jul 1899, Eastwood s. n. (CAS 268877).
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Description
Species Description - Perennial; stems slender, ascending to erect, few to several, clustered on a woody caudex, extremely tall, (2-)3-7 dm high, often branched, sometimes suffrutescent at the base and herbaceous above or wholly herbaceous, glandular pubescent with short gland-tipped hairs and hispid to villose with longer glandless hairs. Leaves 2-5 cm long, glandular pubescent and sometimes hirsute to villose with glandless hairs besides, especially at the base and up the ribs and margins, and scabrous along the distal margins, the main leaves mostly linear, sometimes lance-linear, wavy-margined, entire, rarely divided. Infiorescence elongate, flowers remote and often distichous, the coloration from the corollas, except distally where the bracts and calyx also bear coloration. Bracts relatively inconspicuous, linear-lanceolate, entire, sometimes the upper ones with a pair of lateral lobes, the upper ones red to red-orange tipped, glandular-pubescent. Calyx extremely short, (13-) 14-17 (-20) mm long, subequally cleft for 3/8 to a little more than 1/2 its length into 2 primary lobes (5-)6-8(-10) mm long (the adaxial cleft usually slightly deeper), each lobe divided for 3/10 to 1/2 (2/3) its length into 2 short lanceolate to triangular segments, 1.5-4.5(-6) mm long, these usually red-orange to red, the color sometimes extending down to near the base of the tube in the upper flowers. Corolla (24-) 28-35 (-38) mm long, usually exserted beyond the calyx tube to below the lower lip; galea more or less as long as the tube, relatively long, (12-) 14-18(-20) mm long, usually colored all over, red-orange through orange to sometimes yellow, dorsally glandular-pubescent, becoming nearly glabrous laterally; lower lip often a darker hue than the galea, projected forward by a broad throat, the teeth short, about 0.5 mm long, triangular; tube strongly curved forward from about 1/8 its length above the base, glabrescent. Stamens often exserted beyond the galea tip, the upper anthers 2-2.75 mm long. Stigma exserted beyond the tip of the galea, relatively small, slightly bifid or merely clavate, 0.25-0.5 mm thick. Capsules 9-12 mm long, oblong-ovoid. Chromosome number: 2n = 24.
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Discussion
C. quibellii Beane, Contr. Dudley Herb. 4: 37, plate VII. figs. 1-7. 1950. California, Fresno County, in moist soil under conifers in Rancheria Camp Ground, 11 Jul 1949, Beane 1535 (DS 323645, isotype JEPS).
Type. California, Fresno County, Converse Basin, South Fork of King's River, 1-3 Jul 1899, Eastwood s. n. (CAS 268877).
Castilleja disticha is one of the most remarkable species of the C. viscidula alliance in that it displays the attractive coloration on its long exserted corollas rather than on the bracts as in most species of Castilleja. I know of no other species of Castilleja in which the coloration is predominantly on the corolla. Besides this peculiar color situation in the inflorescence, C. disticha is also very distinctive in aspect. It can be best described as "meager" in appearance with its elongate stems bearing widely spaced leaves and flowers. The leaves are relatively small and narrow. The flowers are spread nearly at right angles to the stem because of an abrupt curvature near the base of the corolla tube and they are often two-ranked as the name suggests.
Even though C. disticha has such outstanding characteristics, it appears to be very closely related to C. martinii. The complete coloration of the galea is shared by C. niartinii var martinii, and the narrow leaves are also characteristic of C. martinii var ewanii and some C. martinii var martinii of the Transverse Ranges. The short calyx segments are characteristic of the C. martinii lineage, and another criterion for close relationship is met here with the adjacent but allopatric distributions.
Castilleja disticha, a diploid, ai)pears to come into contact with a tetraploid race of C applegatei var fragilis in a few parts of its range, but they seem to intergrade only in the vicinity of Mineral King in Tulare County near the southern limits of both their distributions. This is the only incidence of sympatry in the C. viscidula group.
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Distribution
Habitat and distribution. Collected in flower from mid June to early September, at altitudes from (4000) 5000 to 9500 (11,000) feet in dry places in forest duff of conifer forests and sometimes on sagebrush hills. East side of the Sierra Nevada from Tulare County to Tuolumne County and found on the west side of the crest in the area of Mammoth Lakes, perhaps coming over Mammoth Pass by way of the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River (Fig. 9).
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