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AGAVE AND YUCCA | CACTI | WILDFLOWERS

Castilleja Angustifolia, Desert Indian Paintbrush


Plants > Wildflowers > Orobanchaceae > Castilleja Angustifolia
Desert Indian Paintbrush
Castilleja angustifolia (desert Indian paintbrush) near Trachyte Creek, south Utah

The narrow leaves and stems of castilleja angustifolia are green during moist periods but purplish when dry. Stems and leaves have a covering of short, bristly, non-glandular hairs.

Like most paintbrush species the most noticeable part of the flower head are the red bracts - modified leaves, with similar dimensions and characteristics to the leaves just below; the actual flowers are small, greenish-yellow, an inch long and tubular, projecting out just a little way at the top. Under optimum conditions the bracts are especially brilliant in color, seeming to glow from within. Bracts are divided into 3 or 5 lobes, as are the upper stem leaves. There are two varieties (var angustifolia, var flavescens); a third, var dubia, is now classed as a separate species, castilleja chromosa.

Common names:
Desert Indian paintbrush, northwestern paintbrush
Family:
Broomrape (Orobanchaceae)
Scientific name:
Castilleja angustifolia
Synonym:
Castilleja chromosa
Main flower color:
Red
Range:
All the western states; east to Montana, Wyoming, west Colorado and northwest New Mexico
Height:
1 to 2 feet
Habitat:
Sandy soils, sagebrush plains, grassland, semi-desert locations. Up to 9,500 feet
Leaves:
Up to 2 inches long, thin, undivided near the base of the stem but split into 3 or 5 narrow lobes higher up
Season:
April to August



Pintrest


photograph
Cluster
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Four flower heads
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Purple leaves
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Top of the inflorescence
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Bright red bracts
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Lobed stem leaves
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Hairy, red-tipped bracts
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Flowers and bracts
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Lower stem leaves
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Orange bracts
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Opening flowerhead
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Two yellowish flowers
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Flower cluster
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