Among these traits, floral color polymorphisms are the most visually striking and thus have drawn many researchers to investigate the cause and maintenance of intraspecific variation. Floral traits reported to vary intraspecifically include corolla length and corolla flare, calyx length, flower size and style length, and floral color. Polymorphisms for floral traits occur in many angiosperm species, and the underlying evolutionary forces maintaining these polymorphisms have long been the subject of interest and debate among evolutionary biologists. While many previous studies have provided evidence for pollinator preference playing a role in floral color polymorphism, the results of the current study indicate that reproductive assurance, which would be important for fluctuations in pollinator abundance or colonizing new areas, may act as a selective agent to maintain such polymorphisms. The apparent trade-offs between a higher reproductive output in the scarlet morph and a reproductive assurance advantage in the yellow morph may explain the maintenance of the polymorphism in C. When pollinators were excluded, the yellow morph outperformed the scarlet morph in fruit set and seed set. When the scarlet morph was the maternal plant it had higher seed set. Both color morphs were used as pollen donors for the within and between crosses. The hand-pollination treatments were either self-pollination or cross pollination using pollen from within and between populations. coccinea by conducting hand-pollination experiments in two nearby populations, one predominantly yellow and one predominantly scarlet. We investigated a possible mechanism for this maintenance of bract color polymorphism in C. Deep snows on the occupied habitat may last until mid-July or August in some years.Populations of scarlet Indian paintbrush ( Castilleja coccinea) in the Midwestern United States exhibit a bract color polymorphism, with each population having predominantly yellow or scarlet bracts. Estimations range from more than 10,000 to greater than 3,000,000 (based on long-term monitoring data).Ĭastilleja christii is endemic to gentle, north-facing slopes in subalpine meadow and sagebrush habitats in the upper elevations of Mount Harrison in the Albion Mountains of Cassia County, Idaho. A precise estimate of the numbers of individuals in the population is difficult to determine. The population occupies approximately 200 acres. The global distribution of Castilleja christii is confined to a single population on the top of Mount Harrison. A Candidate Conservation Agreement for Castilleja christii outlining 10 years of conservation actions for this rare species was signed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and USDA Forest Service in 2005. Castilleja christii is a Sensitive plant species on the Regional Forester’s Sensitive Plant List for the Intermountain Region. The inflorescence is yellow to yellow-orange with lanceolate to ovate bracts.Ĭastilleja christii is currently a Candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act and is on the USFWS Notice of Review List. Leaves are 2 to 5 inches long and are narrow to broadly lance-shaped. Stems are erect to ascending and usually unbranched with several in a cluster. It is currently ranked as one of Idaho’s rarest plant taxa.Ĭhrist’s Indian Paintbrush is a showy perennial herb ranging 6 to 15 inches tall. The conservation and protection of this rare population is managed by the Sawtooth National Forest, Minidoka Ranger District. This species is known from only a single population on the summit of Mount Harrison.

Christ’s Indian Paintbrush ( Castilleja christii)Ĭhrist’s Indian Paintbrush - ( Castilleja christii) is a showy, yellow flowered perennial endemic to subalpine meadow and sagebrush habitats in the upper elevations of the Albion Mountains, Cassia County, Idaho.

Harrison may require extraordinary conservation measures such as ex situ conservation of the plant and its seeds to ensure its continued existence. The long-term effect of global climate change on this population that is only known from atop Mt. One of the threats facing Christ’s Indian Paintbrush is invasive species that have established themselves in this mountain meadow. Harrison in the Albion Mountains in the Sawtooth National Forest, Idaho. States are colored green where the paintbrush may be found.Īn extremely rare plant, Christ’s Indian Paintbrush ( Castilleja christii) is known from only a single mountain meadow atop Mt. Range map of the Christ's Indian Paintbrush.

Indian paintbrush seedling