Castilleja caudata

Castilleja caudata, common name Port Clarence Indian paintbrush or pale Indian paintbrush, is a plant species native to Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the northeastern part of Asiatic Russia.[2] The first common name refers to Port Clarence, on the north coast of the Bering Sea just south of Nome.

Castilleja caudata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Orobanchaceae
Genus:	Castilleja
Species:	C. caudata
Binomial name
Castilleja caudata (Pennell) Rebr.
Synonyms[1]
Castilleja pallida subsp. caudata Pennell Castilleja pallida var. caudata (Pennell) B. Boivin

Castilleja caudata is an herb with a short taproot. The plant appears to be a facultative parasite, capable of surviving without draining nutrients from other plants but growing more healthy if it can draw sustenance from other plants. Stems can reach a height of 40 cm (16 inches). Leaves and stems tend to be hairless toward the bottom, finely hairy above, and bristly in the inflorescence. Leaves are narrowly lanceolate, tapering gradually toward the tip. The inflorescence has 5-12 flowers, the flowers greenish-yellow each with a greenish-yellow to cream-colored bract below.[2][3][4][5][6]

References

1. Tropicos
2. CYSIP, Central Yukon Species Inventory Project, Castilleja caudata, Pale Indian paintbrush
3. Alaska Wildflowers
4. Rebristaya, O. V. 1964. Novosti Sistematiki Vysshikh Rastenii [New Delhi] 1: 296.
5. Pennell, Francis Whittier. 1934. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 86(13): 524–525, map 1.
6. Boivin, Joseph Robert Bernard. 1952. Le Naturaliste Canadien 79: 320.