The genus was named in the late 18th century for Domingo Castillejo (1744-1793), a Spanish botany professor, but the common name derives from the mythology of Plains Indians in the Oklahoma territories. They also hybridize easily between species, a promiscuity that makes them extremely difficult to categorize. They commonly recombine in polyploid forms, meaning with three or more sets of chromosomes (as opposed to two, the more typical number in sexual reproduction), rendering them highly variable in different populations. affinis subspecies neglecta), whose yellow bracts can be spied on open serpentine slopes of Napa and Marin Counties, and nowhere else on earth.Ī shape-shifting member of the snapdragon family, the genus Castilleja includes some 200 species in the western United States, with 35 occurring in California. We also enjoy the rare and endemic Tiburon paintbrush (C. wightii) with blossoms of solid yellow or red. subinclusa subspecies franciscana) with its two-toned flower of crimson and gold, and the shaggier Wight’s paintbrush (C. In the coastal scrub, keep an eye out for Franciscan paintbrush (C. Here in the Bay Area, stands of purple owl’s clover (Castilleja exserta) rank among our showiest grassland wildflowers, and constitute a primary element for the survival of the federally threatened Bay checkerspot butterfly. Look for Indian paintbrush growing together with bunchgrass, chamise, sagebrush, and wild buckwheat, its favored hosts. This clever freeloader takes water and nutrients from the roots of other plants via furtive finger-like projections of parasitic tissue called haustoria, which grow from the roots of the paintbrush and penetrate the roots of the host plant. The plant’s beauty above ground masks a deviousness below-Indian paintbrush is a partial parasite, unable to thrive alone in the soil. The bright colors of the paintbrush derive not from its flowers but from bracts, the leaf-like structures around the flowers, which grow shorter, wider, and more lobed toward the top, often with color highlights at the tips.
#Paintbrush plants full#
Known botanically as Castilleja, these low-growing blooms of orange, red, or occasionally yellow appear like blazing tufts of pigment across the full spectrum of habitats-from grasslands to coastal bluffs, deserts to vernal pools, lowland bogs to the High Sierra-a testament to nature’s art and design. Indian paintbrush needs full sunlight and well-drained soil.The April sun rises on a landscape splashed with the colors of spring, and few wildflowers hold the metaphor better than Indian paintbrush. The plant doesn’t do well in a manicured formal garden and has the best chance of success in a prairie or wildflower meadow with other native plants. Growing Indian paintbrush is tricky but it isn’t impossible. Indian paintbrush tolerates cold winters but it doesn’t perform well in the warmer climates of USDA zones 8 and above. This is because Indian paintbrush sends roots out to the other plants, then penetrates the roots and “borrows” nutrients it needs in order to survive. This unpredictable wildflower grows when it is planted in close proximity with other plants, primarily grasses or native plants such as penstemon or blue-eyed grass. However, if conditions are right, Indian paintbrush reseeds itself every autumn. The plant is short-lived and dies after it sets seed. Indian paintbrush is a biennial plant that usually develops rosettes the first year and stalks of blooms in spring or early summer of the second year. About the Indian PaintbrushĪlso known as Castilleja, Indian paintbrush wildflowers grow in forest clearings and grasslands across the Western and Southwestern United States. Growing this wildflower can add interest to the native garden. Indian paintbrush flowers are named for the clusters of spiky blooms that resemble paintbrushes dipped in bright red or orange-yellow paint.