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 Giant Red Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata); it appears in red, salmon, pink, etc. Giant Red Paintbrush commonly hybridizes with Rhexia-leaved Paintbrush (Castilleja 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.