Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Giant Red Paintbrush
Castilleja miniata
Broomrape/Paintbrush family (Orobanchaceae)

Conspicuous and iconic plants of the Rocky Mountains, Paintbrush come in many different colors, each, usually a distinct species. The latter is not true, though, for Red Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata); it appears in red, salmon, pink, etc. Red Paintbrush commonly hybridizes with Rose Paintbrush (C. rhexifolia). "Miniata" is Latin for "colored red." Castilleja miniata was first collected by David Douglas in what is now Eastern Oregon/Washington in the early 1830's.


© Walter Siegmund, Steve Sullivan

Description

Distinctive , 8-24" tall, whose flower appears to be a brush dipped in red paint but it is not. These are the which are also cut into 1-2 pairs of . Buried within the highest are small green tubular flowers. Numerous stems bear leaves that are , 3-, and narrowly . Leaves are typically .

Field Marks

Bright red, showy, leafy .

© Al Schneider

nerves -- Another name for a vein.

An entire leaf has smooth edges. Not toothed or lobed.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

lobe -- A rounded parts of a leaf (or other organ).

A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.

lateral -- attached to the side of an organ, for instance leaves or branches on a stem.

Bracts are modified leaves associated with a flower.

alternate -- leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.

lanceolate -- Lance-shaped. Long, wider in the middle.