Castilleja Angustifolia, Desert Indian Paintbrush
Plants > Wildflowers > Orobanchaceae > Castilleja Angustifolia
Common names:
Desert Indian paintbrush, northwestern paintbrush
Family:
Scientific name:
Castilleja angustifolia
Synonym:
Castilleja chromosa
Main flower color:
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
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.
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.
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