''Castilleja beldingii'' is a species of

hemiparasitic A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the ...

plant in the broomrape family, formerly the only species in the genus ''Clevelandia'', it was moved to the genus ''

Castilleja ''Castilleja'', commonly known as paintbrush, Indian paintbrush, or prairie-fire, is a genus of about 200 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, northern Asia, and one ...

'', the 'indian paintbrushes', in 2009.

Taxonomy

Edward Lee Greene Edward Lee Greene (August 20, 1843–November 10, 1915) was an American botanist known for his numerous publications including the two-part ''Landmarks of Botanical History'' and the describing of over 4,400 species of plants in the American W ...

first described it as ''Orthocarpus beldingi'' in 1885, but he later reclassified it in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus ''Clevelandia'' in the ''Bulletin of the California Academy of Sciences'' in 1886. The spelling was later correct to ''beldingii''. However, Greene reclassified it invalidly, the German taxonomist

Karl August Otto Hoffmann Karl August Otto Hoffmann (25 October 1853 in Beeskow – 11 September 1909) was a German botanist and a high school teacher in Berlin. Author of ''Sertum plantarum madagascariensium'', the genus '' Hoffmanniella'' in the family Asteraceae was ...

rectified this and published Greene's name correctly in

Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on alpha taxonomy, plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families'' ...

's classic ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' in 1893. After molecular

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

work, Tank ''et al'' moved it to the large genus ''

'' in 2009. The

lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

was collected in the Sierra La Victoria by the American

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

Lyman Belding Lyman Belding (June 12, 1829 – November 22, 1917) was a prominent American ornithologist. Biography Lyman Belding was born to Joshua Belding and Rosetta Cooley Belding on June 12, 1829, at West Farms, Massachusetts, but later moved to Kin ...

during his expedition to Baja California in 1883. It was only designated as such in 2009 by Tank ''et al''.

Etymology

Its former generic name ''Clevelandia'' honours the San Diego-based

plant collector Plant collecting is the acquisition of plant specimens for the purposes of research, cultivation, or as a hobby. Plant specimens may be kept alive, but are more commonly dried and pressed to preserve the quality of the specimen. Plant collecting i ...

and lawyer

Daniel Cleveland Daniel Cleveland (March 21, 1838 – January 3, 1929) was an American lawyer, politician, civic leader and botanist. Originating from a family of lawyers from Poughkeepsie, New York, he practiced law throughout his life. He served as the mayor o ...

(1838–1929), for whom numerous other plants were named, as well as a second ''Clevelandia'' genus (the arrow goby, a fish):

Distribution

It is native to

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

and

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur (; 'South Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal ent ...

, in northwestern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

References

Orobanchaceae Endemic flora of Mexico Flora of Baja California Flora of Baja California Sur Plants described in 1891 {{Orobanchaceae-stub