Egger_nc_nan_lap_Site3_WhiteMts_2_2
Castilleja nana, "C. lapidicola" form, Site 3, vicinity of White Mountains Rd., in dolomite barrens NE of Sheep Mountain, White Mountains, Mono Co., CA, 21 Jul 2019. The elevation at this site is about 11,800'.
Another Castilleja question I was exploring in the White Mts. is the relationship between this little known but fairly widespread form of C. nana, originally described as a separate species, C. lapidicola, but reduced to synonymy under the earlier C. nana in the Intermountain Flora (1984). However, the plants of this form rarely if ever are found in the same population, and the lapidicola form usually occurs at even higher elevations, and, at least in the Whites, and on different substrates. The pale or "true" C. nana and the nana-pilosa intergrades occur at around 10,500-11,000' (from what I saw), while the pictured plants are from a population at nearly 12,000'. I saw no evidence of mixing of these forms in either population, though surely our sample size was small, in just one day.
This very harsh, high albido site with medium and fine-grained dolomite gravel, supported only a handful of low alpine species, and Castilleja nana lapidicola was by far the most common species, giving a reddish-purple hue to the mostly uniform, white landscape. The scarcity of other plants made determination of the likely host plants much easier than usual, and, as with most Castillejas, a variety of species appear to be utilized as hosts.
Egger_nc_nan_lap_Site3_WhiteMts_2_2
Castilleja nana, "C. lapidicola" form, Site 3, vicinity of White Mountains Rd., in dolomite barrens NE of Sheep Mountain, White Mountains, Mono Co., CA, 21 Jul 2019. The elevation at this site is about 11,800'.
Another Castilleja question I was exploring in the White Mts. is the relationship between this little known but fairly widespread form of C. nana, originally described as a separate species, C. lapidicola, but reduced to synonymy under the earlier C. nana in the Intermountain Flora (1984). However, the plants of this form rarely if ever are found in the same population, and the lapidicola form usually occurs at even higher elevations, and, at least in the Whites, and on different substrates. The pale or "true" C. nana and the nana-pilosa intergrades occur at around 10,500-11,000' (from what I saw), while the pictured plants are from a population at nearly 12,000'. I saw no evidence of mixing of these forms in either population, though surely our sample size was small, in just one day.
This very harsh, high albido site with medium and fine-grained dolomite gravel, supported only a handful of low alpine species, and Castilleja nana lapidicola was by far the most common species, giving a reddish-purple hue to the mostly uniform, white landscape. The scarcity of other plants made determination of the likely host plants much easier than usual, and, as with most Castillejas, a variety of species appear to be utilized as hosts.