Castilleja hyperborea Pennell
Annotated by M. Egger.

Alaska: Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area: Yukon-Charley National Preserve, Upper Woodchopper Creek. Elev. 3588'
65.20361°, -143.53861°
On Dryas lichen tundra pavements with Podistera macounii, Lupinus arcticus, and Campanula lasiocarpa. Gradually sloping west 12°. Aspect 265°. Photos taken of habitat and plants. First concerning the small red-purple plants and the identity of C.kuschei -- after much close study and anguish I've come to the conclusion that both your collection and the holotype of C. kuschei represent variation within C. hyperborea. The structure of the corolla, stature, pubescence, and range all rule out C. parviflora, and the divided leaves reaching well down the stem and mostly obtuse calyx lobes rule out all of the C. pallida complex. Which quickly leaves either hyperborea or an undescribed taxon. I tried mightily to find a complex of 2-3 characters to separate it from hyperborea, but there is just too much overlap. The study did draw to my attention an overlooked character for most hyperborea, not mentioned in the litt & unnoticed by me in the past -- beneath the usual villous pubescence of the stems and leaves is a minute and somewhat variable understory of stipitate-glandular hairs. These are particularly visible on your collection and on the type of C. kuschei, and that, combined with the purplish coloration, was what I thought might distinguish C. kuschei from hyperborea. But when I examined numerous hyperborea sheets, including your other ones, I found at least some and often many such glandular hairs. That, combined with the fact that I have seen a small but significant number of purplish variants of hyperborea in the past (scattered throughout its range), I am forced to the conclusion mentioned above. Because of their very reduced size, your collection is probably the most divergent I've seen. Perhaps additional collections from that region may provide a case for describing a variety within hyperborea, but this will require more collections and a larger data set. It seems most probable that the extreme conditions of the site where you collected these plants caused a dwarfing effect and maybe even the coloration difference. Sorry for all the earlier excitement -- but the plants certainly did look different at first inspection!! As to the disposition of C. kuschii Eastwood, I have not published anything on it, but I now believe with a fair degree of certainty that it is simply the purplish form of C. hyperborea. The Outpost Mt. plant is very similar to the type, more so than your collection from last year, which was considerably smaller. Also, the mixture of villous hairs with an understory of shorter, stipitate-glandular hairs, a characteristic I used to think distinguished C. kuschii, seems to be pretty common in C. hyperborea and is commonly found in the normally colored plants as well. So, I've now reduced C. kuschii to a synonym of C. hyperborea in my manuscript - Mark Egger Dec.8, 2004. Common. 7 duplicates (WTU; ALA).

B.A. Bennett 02-0158, July 2, 2002
With A. Larsen
BABY, Accession: BABY-03543