Castilleja

[cohan]

thanks, all, glad they were enjoyed! i was very surprised/pleased by the range of colours at this site, also..
maggi--photographing wildflowers intensively he last year or so, i've realised that, here at least, its rare to find flowers without bugs! whether pollinators or trying to eat the plants, or trying to eat the beforementioned, there is usually something there; tiny flowers just have tinier bugs, manytimes i cant see them until enlarged on the screen..
and it doesn't end with the flowers: picking, and later cleaning, some of these castilleja seed, it was a nonstop parade of little bugs and spiders! don't tell my housemate i had those in the house....lol

the article i mentioned before is by Paul Cumbleton from The Plantsman, December 2008, he talks about growing them without a host, and techniques used at Wisley, germination etc;
i don't have a link, just a file, which i don't think i should post for copyright reasons, maybe there is a way to see it online?

[Ragged Robin]

A great display of photos showing such a range of colours and forms of Castilleja....they are really intriguing, Cohan, from creams to firey red - lovely!  Two questions:

What host do they grow on?
Are they bracts that are coloured?

They seem to be quite tall but it is a little hard to see from your last shot    thanks for the introduction    

[cohan]

A great display of photos showing such a range of colours and forms of Castilleja....they are really intriguing, Cohan, from creams to firey red - lovely!  Two questions:

What host do they grow on?
Are they bracts that are coloured?

They seem to be quite tall but it is a little hard to see from your last shot    thanks for the introduction    

thanks, robin..
i should do some more reading to understand them better--as far as i know, they are partially parasitic, but in this sort of habitat (i will be posting a set of photos of the location soon) there are many hosts to choose from, not sure if they have favourites or just take whatever is there--there are grasses, poplars, geraniums, roses, anemone and many other things growing around them; they are common in semi wooded areas where there would be lots of tree roots,  also often seen in roadsides where there is probably more grass than anything else..

again, i'm not super informed on the flower structures,and need to look that up too..lol.. but, yes--most of the colourful 'flower' is bracts, then the actual flowers project outward in narrow spikey structures-not sure which flower structures are adapted in those..
in this photo, you can see most of the structure--look at the bottom and you can see some bracts/leaves that are just barely coloured on the tips, then fully coloured bracts, and you can see the actual flowers jutting out-some faded ones farther down, and fresh ones at the top;
the true flowers often appear mainly green, as you see here, but there are usually some coloured parts, same colour or colours of the bracts..


height varies with exposure, of course, but average would be 40-60cm--my book gives the range as 20-60, 20 would be a dry exposed spot, or maybe young plants..

[mark smyth]

Margaret Glynn has a very healthy plant on her rockery/scree and as far as I know without a host. I'll look for some photos

[Lori S.]

The NARGS publication, Rock Garden Quarterly, has articles on cultivation of castilleja in the Spring, 2005 and another in the Summer, 2007 editions, and there was also one in 2003 (which I don't have).  They are described as hemi-parasites, thus not requiring a host, but it is said they are more inclined to prosper and flower if they do have one.  One of the articles states that castilleja are not host-specific, though there are preferred hosts.
In my front yard, Castilleja miniata grows with a variety of native plants and garden perennials.  It produces copious amounts of seed.  From that, one might assume it would become weedy, but it hasn't.  With its apparent very long bloom time (due to the persistent coloured bracts), it provides a lot of colour and I welcome the few seedlings that have popped up nearby.  

[Giles]

I think I might have posted this before, but now we have a specific thread, I'll put it here:
Castilleja (sorry can't remember which species it was; Ontario; front lawn !!)

[Giles]

..I think I remember Paul C saying his article was available to download from the RHS website, somewhere.

[Maggi Young]

I see you've wrapped up against the cold, Giles 


 Paul said this about his article......

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For anyone who does not subscribe to "The Plantsman" magazine but would like to read my article "Castilleja: Saying Goodbye to the Host", the RHS has kindly made this article available as a free download (PDF format) from this page of the RHS website: http://www.rhs.org.uk/Learning/Publications/plantsman/1208/plantsmandec08.htmJust scroll down and click on the article title.

[Giles]

I was somewhat distressed, Maggi, to find a tomb with my name on it, in Bredon Church, but it looked like I was knighted before I died, which was nice 

[Ragged Robin]

'Arise, Sir Giles' has a nice ring to it 

[cohan]

giles--that's quite a 'front lawn'!
i'm hoping to scatter some seed about the edges of my yard--i have a lot of rather wild areas with native vegetation (which i can claim no credit for, other than not mowing ..the seed i have collected so far i have promised to kristl, but i plan to get back to the same site, and maybe find some more, i'd really be happy to have some colours other than the common orange, lovely as it is...
its interesting that there isnt any growing here already--my only thought is that i havent seen any (very offhand observation, which now i will need to watch more closely to back up or disprove) on lands that are or have been grazed, so perhaps they need a longish period undisturbed to establish? but this acreage hasnt been grazed in a long time, so not sure if that's it...

thanks maggi for the article link...

[Harold Mc Bride]

    Not all members of this genus require a host plant

[Maggi Young]

Hello, Harold, how nice to have you post here!
How are you both? And the Lady Flurrie, of course?  Has this been a good year in your garden?

[Lesley Cox]

'Arise, Sir Giles' has a nice ring to it 

I was wondering about the point of this particular avatar image. Robin, judging from the picture I doubt if this Sir Giles will be arising any time soon.

On a totally unrelated subject and only because it offends me no end, a few years back our then Labour govt. did away with the UK honours list and the titles "Sir" and " Dame" in preference for a NZ system of honours which meant almost nothing to anyone at all. Our current National (conservative) govt. has restored the old system and invited all those who missed out on knighthoods to take them up now. Most have done so - a few exceptions on principle seeing as we're really not much related to our British forebears any longer, but one who is now to be called Dame is a previous prime minister (not elected, she stabbed the incumbent in the back to all intents and purposes in order to take his position). Her title (which implies meritorious work) offends me because the only thing for which she is to be remembered if her pushing to have the drinking age lowered, an act which has seen young people binging and boozing to extreme degrees and their own great detriment. Moreover, she once used the non-word mischievious, in a speech to a visiting president of somewhere, at a state luncheon. And she previously a school teacher. To my mind she is a national disgrace.

OK rant over.

[ranunculus]

Hi Harold,
How wonderful to have you join us on this magnificent forum.
It seems many moons since you visited the AGS East Lancashire Group at Ramsbottom, but we remember that evening with the greatest of pleasure ...kind folks of this forum, we welcome a legend!