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Wildlife, Animals, and Plants
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Introductory
SPECIES: Castilleja occidentalis | Western Paintbrush
ABBREVIATION :
CASOCC
SYNONYMS :
Castilleja parvula
SCS PLANT CODE :
CAOC4
COMMON NAMES :
western paintbrush
western painted cup
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of western paintbrush is
Castilleja occidentalis Torr.
LIFE FORM :
Forb
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
Western paintbrush is rare in northwestern Montana and Glacier National
Park, where it is at the edge of its range [10].
COMPILED BY AND DATE :
Tara Y. Williams, September 1990
LAST REVISED BY AND DATE :
NO-ENTRY
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Williams, Tara Y. 1990. Castilleja occidentalis. In: Remainder of Citation
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Castilleja occidentalis | Western Paintbrush
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Western paintbrush occurs in the Rocky Mountains from British Columbia,
Alberta, and Montana south to Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. It is not
known to occur in Idaho or Wyoming. In Montana, it has been found only
in Glacier National Park [10].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES44 Alpine
STATES :
CO MT NM UT AB BC
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS :
GLAC ROMO
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K015 Western spruce - fir forest
K021 Southwestern spruce - fir forest
K052 Alpine meadows and barren
SAF COVER TYPES :
206 Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
210 Interior Douglas-fir
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Castilleja occidentalis | Western Paintbrush
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
NO-ENTRY
PALATABILITY :
Palatability of western paintbrush has been rated as fair to good for
sheep, poor to fair for cattle, and poor for horses [2].
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
Western paintbrush has poor energy value and poor protein value. Its
forage value has been rated as good for mule deer and fair for elk,
upland game birds, nongame birds, and small mammals [2].
COVER VALUE :
Western paintbrush may provide cover for some small mammals [2].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Growth of western paintbrush is good on moderate slopes and fair on
steep slopes. It has low to medium erosion-control potential.
Establishment requirements are medium. Revegetation and biomass
production potentials are low [2].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Western paintbrush often occurs in fragile, wet meadows that are subject
to damage from trampling by humans and ungulates [9].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Castilleja occidentalis | Western Paintbrush
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Western paintbrush is a woody-based, native, perennial, autotrophic forb
that grows 2 to 8 inches (5-20 cm) tall. It has a short, dense
inflorescence, which is predominately yellow but varies to red and
purple and displays all intermediate colors [5,6,13,16].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Hemicryptophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Western paintbursh reproduces sexually by pollination and fertilization
and dispersal of resulting seed [2].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Western paintbrush grows in the high mountains on alpine slopes or
meadows, and on talus or rock slides. It is common above timberline.
It grows best on sandy loam or loam. Western paintbrush grows in areas
with late snowmelt. It is often associated with tufted hairgrass
(Deschampsia caespitosa), golden avens (Geum rossii), and Bellard
kobresia (Kobresia myosuroides) [2,6,13,15,16].
In several western states, western paintbrush occurs at the following
elevational ranges:
10,500 to 13,000 feet (3,385-4,195 m) in Colorado [5]
6,500 to 7,500 feet (2,095-2,420 m) in Montana [9]
10,100 to 11,160 feet (3,260-3,600 m) in Utah [16]
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Western paintbrush generally flowers in July and August [6]. Flowering
may begin as early as June in Montana and may end as late as September
in Colorado and Montana [2].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Castilleja occidentalis | Western Paintbrush
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Caudex, growing points in soil
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Castilleja occidentalis | Western Paintbrush
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
NO-ENTRY
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
NO-ENTRY
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
References for species: Castilleja occidentalis
1. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p. [434]
2. Dittberner, Phillip L.; Olson, Michael R. 1983. The plant information network (PIN) data base: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. FWS/OBS-83/86. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. 786 p. [806]
3. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
4. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others]. 1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
5. Harrington, H. D. 1964. Manual of the plants of Colorado. 2d ed. Chicago: The Swallow Press Inc. 666 p. [6851]
6. Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur; Ownbey, Marion. 1959. Vascular plants of the Pacific Northwest. Part 4: Ericaceae through Campanulaceae. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. 510 p. [1170]
7. Kartesz, John T.; Kartesz, Rosemarie. 1980. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. Volume II: The biota of North America. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press; in confederation with Anne H. Lindsey and C. Richie Bell, North Carolina Botanical Garden. 500 p. [6954]
8. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York: American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
9. Lesica, Peter. 1984. Rare vascular plants of Glacier National Park, Montana. Missoula, MT: University of Montana, Department of Botany. 27 p. [12049]
10. Lesica, P.; Moore, G.; Peterson, K. M.; Rumely, J. H. 1984. Vascular plants of limited distribution in Montana. Monograph No. 2. Proceedings, Montana Academy of Sciences. 43(Supplement): 1-61. [11656]
11. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 10 p. [20090]
12. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
13. Standley, Paul C. 1921. Flora of Glacier National Park, Montana. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. Vol. 22, Part 5. Washington, DC: United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution: 235-438. [12318]
14. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982. National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names. SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]
15. Welden, Charles. 1985. Structural pattern in alpine tundra vegetation. American Journal of Botany. 72(1): 120-134. [8267]
16. Welsh, Stanley L.; Atwood, N. Duane; Goodrich, Sherel; Higgins, Larry C., eds. 1987. A Utah flora. The Great Basin Naturalist Memoir No. 9. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University. 894 p. [2944]
[2944] Index
Related categories for Species: Castilleja occidentalis
| Western Paintbrush
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