Colorado Castilleja

Last May on Get Your Botany On!, I posted about Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea) that I had seen recently in Lake County, Indiana. Although I had witnessed this species with bracts of three different color morphs (red, orange, and yellow) over the years, until July I had only seen one of the approximately 200 worldwide species (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010) from this showy genus. That quickly changed when we went to Colorado in July, as I multiplied my life list of Castilleja species by five.

In the photographs below, you will see that Castilleja possesses showy "flowers." I put "flowers" in quotes because the showy structures are actually bracts, which are modified leaves. The corolla (petals) are actually inconspicuous and mostly greenish yellow, and are hidden beneath the large bracts. If you look closely, you'll be able to see the true flowers in some of the photographs below.


The first new paintbrush that we saw was in a prairie at Jewel Mountain near Boulder. The photograph above shows Orange Paintbrush (Castilleja integra). This species is known in the United States only from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado (USDA, NRCS 2010). Known also as Wholeleaf Indian Paintbrush, the leaves of this species are unlobed; in fact, the specific epithet integra means "whole" (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010). Orange Paintbrush can be found growing in the plains, foothills, and montane life zones of Colorado, and is said to be the most common paintbrush in the plains of Colorado (Guennel 2004; Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010). The densely tomentose stem is a key feature used to identify this species (Weber 1976).


Along the road near Independence Pass, we stopped the car to photograph Scarlet Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata), also known as Giant Red Indian Painbrush. This species is known from the western United States, and from Canada east to Ontario (USDA, NRCS 2010). In Colorado, it grows in the foothills, montane, and subalpine life zones (Guennel 2004). This species is said to be the most common and variable member of the genus Castilleja in Colorado (Weber 1976).


My favorite paintbrush of our trip was Rosy Paintbrush (Castilleja rhexiifolia), shown above. This photograph was taken at Independence Pass. Also known as Splitleaf Indian Paintbrush, this species is known from states west of the Rocky Mountains (except California and Arizona), as well as from Brittish Columbia and Alberta (USDA, NRCS 2010). You can find this beautiful paintbrush with bracts of indescribable colors in the subalpine and alpine life zones of Colorado (Guennel 2004). This species, as well as others in the genus Castilleja, is well known for its propensity to hybridize with other members of the genus (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010).


Also at Independence Pass, we saw one of the two whitish-bracted species of paintbrush that we saw on our trip, Western Paintbrush (Castilleja occidentalis). Western Paintbrush has a similar range to the preceding species, but is more confined to areas along the Rocky Mountains (USDA, NRCS 2010). This species grows in the subalpine and alpine life zones of Colorado (Guennel 2004), and is distinguished from the next species in part by its shorter height (up to 20 cm tall) (Weber 1976). Like other paintbrushes, this species is hemiparasitic, meaning that it sometimes obtains nutrients from the roots of nearby plants (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010).


The other species of paintbrush that we saw with whitish bracts was Yellow Paintbrush (Castilleja sulphurea). This photograph was taken at Holy Cross Wilderness Area. Sulphur Indian Paintbrush, as it is also known, has a similar range to the two preceding species (USDA, NRCS 2010). It can be found in the plains, montane, and subalpine life zones of Colorado, and is distinguished from the previous species in part by its taller height (20 cm to 40 cm) (Weber 1976).

Now that I've seen approximatetly 3% of the known species of Castilleja, I can't wait to see the diversity and colorful bracts of the other 97%!

Guennel, G.K. (2004). Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 1: Plains and Foothills. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers.

Guennel, G.K. (2004). Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 2: Mountains. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers.

Southwest Colorado Wildflowers. Retrieved January 16, 2010. http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/.

USDA, NRCS. 2010. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov/, 10 January 2010). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Weber, W.A. (1976). Rocky Mountain Flora. Niwot, Colorado: University Press of Colorado

Beautiful, Yes... Grass, No

Translations of Latin names of plants can sometimes be a bit misleading. Take, for example, Calochortus gunnisonii var. gunnisonii. Calochortus comes from the Greek "kalos," meaning "beautiful," and "chortos," meaning "grass" (Fiedler & Zebell 2002). I doubt that many people would argue that the flowers of this species are not beautiful, but I would be pretty hard-pressed to find any botanists who would say that this plant is a grass.


This species (and variety) of Calochortus, which is actually in the family Liliaceae, was named in honor of Captain John Williams Gunnison, who was murdered at the age of 41 while on a surveying trip in Utah (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010). The first known collection of Gunnison's Mariposa Lily, as it is commonly known, was made in central Colorado in 1853 by Frederick Creutzfeldt (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010); the species now is known from Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming (Fiedler & Zebell 2002), where it is found in prairies and open forests (Strickler 1996). "Mariposa" is Spanish for "butterfly," a reference to the large white to purple or bluish-tinged petals that are said to look like butterfly wings (Beidleman et al. 2000).


In Colorado, Gunnison's Mariposa Lily grows from the foothills to the subalpine (6,000 to 11,500' above sea level) (Guennel 2004). We saw Sego Lily, as it is also known for its edible bulb, at two locations while we were in Colorado in July 2009. One of those locations was in a meadow near the most photographed mountain peaks in North America (USDA Forest Service 2010), Maroon Bells, near Aspen.


The lake in the foreground of the photos directly above and below certainly lives up to its name of Mirror Lake!


The other place that we saw Gunnison's Mariposa Lily was at Jewel Mountain, near Boulder.


Interestingly, at both locations, we saw insects inside the campanulate flowers.


The photograph above shows the Xeric Tallgrass Prairie habitat in which we found Gunnison's Mariposa Lily at Jewel Mountain. Xeric Tallgrass Prairie is unique for Boulder, as the nearest similar habitat is over 500 miles away (Fairlee pers. comm. 2009).

Beidleman, L.H., R.G. Beidleman, & B.E. Willard. (2000). Plants of Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park, Colorado: Rocky Mountain Nature Association; Helena, Montana: Falcoln Publishing, Inc.

Fairlee, E. (2009). Personal Communication.

Fiedler, P.L. & R.K. Zebell. (2002). Calochortus. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. 15+ vols. New York and Oxford. Vol. 26.

Guennel, G.K. (2004). Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 2: Mountains. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers.

Southwest Colorado Wildflowers. Retrieved January 16, 2010. http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/.

Strickler, D. (1998). Prairie Wildflowers: Showy Wildflowers of the Plains, Valleys, and Foothills in the Northern Rocky Mountain States. Columbia Falls, Montana: The Flower Press.

USDA Forest Service. Retrieved January 16, 2010. http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/whiteriver/rangerdistricts/aspen_sopris/mb_scenic_site/index.shtml.

A Slipper Fit For A Goddess

One of the plants that I had hoped to see while in Colorado was Fairy Slipper (Calypso bulbosa). Unfortunately, this orchid typically flowers from April to July (Guennel 2004), and we were within its geographical range in mid-July. On one occasion on our trip, we saw a plant that had finished flowering and fruiting; on another couple of occasions, we saw sterile plants. I was beginning to think that we were out of luck, until near the end of our trip, on 18 July 2009, at Rocky Mountain National Park.

After a picnic near a quiet stream for lunch, Eric, Lisa, Julia, Lindsay and I headed back to the car. If you know me at all, you know that I can't simply walk back to the vehicle along the same trail I walked in without at least checking out a bit more of the surroundings; this is especially true in a place I've never been. True to character, I swung through a montane woods while the rest of our group stayed along the trail back to the car. After seeing several exciting plants characteristic of dark, montane forest (that I will post about at a later date), I found my target, a late flowering (but past its prime) Fairy Slipper (be sure to check out the photos at Southwest Colorado Wildflowers to see what the plant looks like when the flowers are fresh).


Eric joined me just about the time that I found this plant, and the two of us proceeded to take numerous photos. I had no idea how difficult it was to keep a 2-year old happy while her dad and his friend were off botanizing. Shortly after I found the plant, I began hearing a car horn, which continued on and off until we got back to the car and found out that Julia was apparently ready to go. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to take photos, though.

As seen in two of these photographs, Fairy Slipper has a solitary leaf at the base of the plant. This leaf emerges in the fall, overwinters under the snow (Strickler 1988), and withers soon after the plant flowers (Wells et al. 1999).


Calypso, as it is also known, is found at a range of elevations in Colorado, from the Foothills to the Subalpine (6,000' to 11,500' above sea level), in bogs and mossy forests and near springs and seeps (Guennel 2004). Closer to home around the Great Lakes, this orchid can be found in dry sand on dunes, in northern coniferous forests, in swamps and bogs, and on alvars (Wells et al. 1999; Case 1987). Its North American distribution includes much of Canada and the northern Unites States, as well as a band along the Rocky Mountains south to Arizona and New Mexico (NatureServe 2009). Globally, this species is circumboreal in distribution, meaning that it is found in northern climates around the world (Fernald 1950).


Calypso was named after the beautiful sea nymph in Homer's Odyssey (Wells et al. 1999). Many references attest to the beauty of the flowers of this plant. Upon seeing it, Hilde Guennel apparently exclaimed "Oh my God! That's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" (Guennel 2004). Unfortunately, its beauty and intrigue has led to its demise and the degradation of its habitat in some places, as habitat has been trampled and plants have been unnecessarily collected (Case 1987).

Case, F.W. Jr. (1987). Orchids of the Western Great Lakes Region. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan: Cranbrook Institute of Science.

Fernald, M.L. (1950). Gray's Manual of Botany, Eighth (Centennial) Edition. American Book Company.

Guennel, G.K. (2004). Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 2: Mountains. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers.

NatureServe. (2009). NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://www.natureserve.org/explorer. (Accessed: January 6, 2010 ).

Strickler, D. (1988). Forest Wildflowers: Showy Wildflowers of the Woods, Mountains and Forests of the Northern Rocky Mountain States. Columbia Falls, Montana: The Flower Press.

Wells, J.R., F.W. Case Jr., & T.L. Mellichamp. (1999). Wildflowers of the Western Great Lakes Region. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan: Cranbrook Institute of Science.

Snowball Saxifrage

A somewhat common plant that we saw in the alpine life zone in Colorado was Snowball Saxifrage (Saxifraga rhomboidea), a member of the family Saxifragaceae. This species grows in a variety of habitats from the foothills (6000' - 8000' above sea level) all the way up into the alpine (>11,500' above sea level) (Guennel 2004). It is known from many states in the western part of the country (USDA NRCS 2009). Edward Greene made the first collection of this species in 1889 and named it Saxifraga rhomboidea; John Small came up with the name Micranthes rhomboidea - the name currently used for this plant by William Weber - for the same species in 1905 (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers).


Also known as Diamondleaf Saxifrage and Early Saxifrage, this species can often be found in rocky habitats. This is one potential origin for the genus (and family) name, as "saxifrage" is translated to mean "rock-breaker;" another potential origin, as discussed by Gerard in The Herbal (1633), is that plants in this family have been used for hundreds of years to treat kidney stones (Weber 1976; Southwest Colorado Wildflowers).

I took the photograph above at Loveland Pass on the Continental Divide in central Colorado.

Guennel, G.K. (2004). Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 2: Mountains. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers.

Southwest Colorado Wildflowers. Retrieved December 10, 2009. http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/.

USDA, NRCS. (2009). The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov/, 10 December 2009). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Weber, W.A. (1976). Rocky Mountain Flora. Niwot, Colorado: University Press of Colorado.