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

Taxonomy

Edward Lee Greene first described it as ''Orthocarpus beldingi'' in 1885, but he later reclassified it in the monotypic 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's classic ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' in 1893. After molecular phylogenetic work, Tank ''et al'' moved it to the large genus '' Castilleja'' in 2009. The lectotype 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 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 The arrow goby (''Clevelandia ios'') is a species of goby native to marine and brackish waters of the Pacific coast of North America from British Columbia to Baja California. This species grows to a length of SL, though most do not exceed TL ...

, a fish):

Distribution

It is native to Baja California 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.

References

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