''Castilleja christii'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the family

Orobanchaceae Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family of mostly parasitic plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera (e.g., '' Pedicularis'', '' Rhinanthus'', '' Striga'') were formerly included in ...

known by the common name Christ's Indian paintbrush. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...

in the United States, where there is a single population on Mount Harrison in the

Albion Mountains The Albion Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. states of Idaho (~99%) and Utah (~1%), spanning Cassia County, Idaho and barely reaching into Box Elder County, Utah. The highest point in the range is Cache Peak at , and the range is a par ...

in the Minidoka Ranger District of

Sawtooth National Forest Sawtooth National Forest is a National Forest that covers 2,110,408 acres (854,052 ha) in the U.S. states of Idaho (~96 percent) and Utah (~4 percent). Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it was originall ...

.''Castilleja christii''.
The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved 10-23-2011. It is one of Idaho's rarest plants.''Castilleja christii''.
Center for Plant Conservation. Retrieved 10-23-2011. This plant was named for John Henry Christ (1896–1973), who first collected it. It is a perennial herb with a cluster of several erect stems tall. The lance-shaped leaves are a few centimeters long and may be divided into lobes. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

is covered in glandular hairs. It contains many lance-shaped yellow or orange bracts and flower corollas long. Blooming occurs in July and August. The plant reproduces by seed. This plant grows near the mountain summit at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

of , where deep snow accumulates and sometimes lasts into the summer or year-round. It occurs in grassy meadow habitat alongside ''

Festuca idahoensis ''Festuca idahoensis'' is a species of grass known by the common names Idaho fescue and blue bunchgrass. It is native to western North America, where it is widespread and common. It can be found in many ecosystems, from shady forests to open plai ...

'' and ''

Elymus trachycaulus ''Elymus trachycaulus'' is a species of wild rye known by the common name slender wheatgrass. It is native to much of North America. It grows in widely varied habitats from northern Canada to Mexico, but is absent from most of the southeastern U ...

'', a snowbed habitat with '' Solidago multiradiata'', '' Erigeron peregrinus'', '' Lupinus argenteus'', and ''

Cymopterus davisii ''Cymopterus davisii'' is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common name Davis's springparsley. This small, flat, taprooted perennial is endemic to Idaho in the United States, where it occurs in the Albion Mountains. Th ...

'', and openings in sagebrush. The climate is

subalpine Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

. The soils are shallow and there are no trees. The only population of this plant is managed by the

. The population fluctuates in numbers, sometimes reaching over one million individuals, but is declining overall. The main threat to the species is habitat loss, which has occurred with the construction of roads in the area. Some vehicles also go off-road, despite barriers to prevent this activity. Some cattle grazing occurs in the habitat, but fencing protects some parts of it. Smooth brome (''Bromus inermis'') has been introduced into the habitat, where it is a

noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or liv ...

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5049898 christii Plants described in 1973 Cassia County, Idaho Flora of Idaho