Scientific Family
Scrophulariaceae
Synonyms
Castilleja affinis var. linariifolia, C. linariifolia var. omnipubescens , C. linearis, C. trainii
Other common names
Wyoming paintbrush
narrow-leaved Indian paintbrush
desert paintbrush
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
To nearly 3 feet
Riparian
No
Woody based, semi-parasitic, few to many smooth to slightly hairy stems and very narrow yellow to grayish-green stalkless leaves. The torch-like clusters at the stem tips consist of showy red petal-like bracts often mistaken for actual flower petals.
Stems several to many; leaves narrow with smooth margins; flower bracts deeply incised or pinnatifid; bracts and flowers light red, beaks bright green.
Habitat
Found on dry plains, in open woods, on rocky slopes, in areas of sagebrush scrub and grasses, in pinyon-juniper woodland communities and in Ponderosa pine, spruce-fir forests and aspen-conifer zones.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Montane Conifer Forest
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Low elevation
5000
High elevation
10000
Flower Characteristics
The torch-like flower stalk is a showy, dense, terminal cluster 3 to 6 inches long. It consists of petal-like bracts whose upper sections are red and lower sections green. Extending from the bracts are the bright green tips (beaks) of the red flowers.
Flower color
Red, bright green
Flower shape
Irregular
Tubular
Yes
First bloom month
April
Last bloom month
October
Flower clusters
Elongated
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Stems are often branched but may be unbranched. Stems and leaves are yellow to grayish-green turning purple with age. Leaves are very narrow with 0 to 3 lobes usually on the upper leaves, up to 3 inches long, with leaf margins that fold upward.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Yellow, grayish-green, purple
Leaf shape
Narrow
Leaf margin
Smooth
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Fruits are dry, asymmetrical, egg-shaped capsules, 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch long, with 2 to 4 segments or divisions. They produce many small seeds that are released upon maturity at which time the fruit segments split lengthwise.
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit color
Brown
The seed is brown with angled-edges, about 1/16 inch long with a net-like or criss-cross pattern on its surface. The outer covering of the seed is loose-fitting and attached at the base of the fruit.