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B. PRESENT LEGAL OR FORMAL STATUS 



1. FEDERAL STATUS 



a. U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: None 



b. U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Sensitive in Region 

 One. This is a species for which the 

 regional forester has determined there is a 

 concern for population viability within a 

 state, as evidenced by significant current or 

 predicted downward trend in populations or 

 habitat (Lesica and Shelly 1991) . 



2. STATE STATUS: Castilleja longispica is currently 

 listed by the Montana Natural Heritage Program as 

 G4-S2, apparently secure globally but imperiled 

 because of rarity in Montana. Lesica and Shelly 

 (1991) list C. longispica as sensitive in Montana. 



C. DESCRIPTION 



1. GENERAL NONTECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: White paintbrush 

 is a herbaceous, hemiparasitic perennial with 

 clustered, erect or ascending, purplish stems, 10- 

 30 cm (4-12 in) high, from a branched rootcrown. 

 Lower leaves are long and narrow with entire 

 margins, while the upper ones are wider with 1-2 

 pairs of slender, spreading lobes. Foliage is 

 covered with short to long and soft hairs. 

 Flowers are borne in a spike at the top of the 

 stems. Each flower is subtended by a broad leaf- 

 like bract with yellowish or sometimes purplish 

 tips and 1-3 pairs of slender lobes. The yellow, 

 tubular corolla, 15-20 mm long, tapers to a short 

 hood (galea) above and 3 small lobes below. The 

 tubular calyx, 10-20 mm long, surrounds the 

 corolla and is cleft into 4 egual, pointed lobes. 

 Although the flowers are not completely hidden, 

 the inflorescence takes its color from the bracts 

 rather than the flowers. Photographs of 

 Castilleja longispica are provided in Appendix A. 



