Castilleja angustifolia

{{Speciesbox

| image = Castilleja angustifolia 1.jpg

| status = G5

| status_system = TNC

| status_ref = {{cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.133831/Castilleja_angustifolia |website=explorer.natureserve.org |access-date=13 April 2023}}

| genus = Castilleja

| species = angustifolia

| authority = (Nutt.) G.Don

}}

Castilleja angustifolia is a species of wildflower known by the common names northwestern Indian paintbrush and desert Indian paintbrush. It is an herbaceous perennial native to the desert, scrublands, and woodlands of western North America.{{Cite web|url=https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=CAAN7|title=Plants Profile for Castilleja angustifolia (northwestern Indian paintbrush)|website=plants.usda.gov|access-date=2020-02-04}} It grows in hot sandy soils and rock crevices in dry conditions.{{Cite web|url=https://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/Pink%20Enlarged%20Photo%20Pages/castilleja%20chromosa.htm|title=Southwest Colorado Wildflowers, Castilleja chromosa|website=www.swcoloradowildflowers.com|access-date=2020-02-05}}

Description

Image:Desert_paintbrush_Castilleja_chromosa_hillside.jpg

This Indian paintbrush is under half a meter in height and has bristly gray-green to purple-red herbage. It stands in a clump of erect stems, each topped with an inflorescence of somewhat tubular yellow green flowers. The flowers are encased in bright red to orange-red bracts,{{Cite web|title=Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin|url=https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=caan7|access-date=2020-02-04|website=www.wildflower.org}} sometimes tinted with purple, and usually fuzzy with a thin coat of white hairs.{{Cite web|url=https://www.desertusa.com/flowers/Desert-Indian-Paintbrush.html|title=Desert Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja chromosa or angustifolia - DesertUSA|website=www.desertusa.com|access-date=2020-02-05}} The upper leaves and bracts are divided into 3–5 segments, while the lower leaves are undivided, long, and narrow.{{Cite book|last=Taylor|first=Ronald J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/25708726|title=Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary|publisher=Mountain Press Pub. Co|year=1994|isbn=0-87842-280-3|edition=rev.|location=Missoula, MT|pages=56|language=en|oclc=25708726|orig-year=1992}}

The plant flowers from May to September.{{Cite web|url=https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?7177,7206,7215|title=UC/JEPS: Jepson Manual treatment for CASTILLEJA angustifolia|website=ucjeps.berkeley.edu|access-date=2020-02-04}} In areas such as Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, it is often associated with sagebrush. The brightly colored bracts are used to attach pollinators like hummingbirds and butterflies that would otherwise ignore the plant's small yellow green flowers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/para/learn/nature/desert-paintbrush.htm|title=Desert Paintbrush - Parashant National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)|website=www.nps.gov|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205005637/https://www.nps.gov/para/learn/nature/desert-paintbrush.htm |archive-date=2020-02-05 |access-date=2020-02-05}} The centimeter-long capsule fruits contain honeycomb-patterned seeds.

The species is similar to Castilleja linariaefolia.