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Indian paintbrush is a native biennial or short-lived perennial that grows in damp sandy prairies, cedar thickets or fens, in full sun.
Green and yellow flowers, hidden in the axils of three-lobed scarlet-tipped bracts, bloom from June through August . Indian paintbrush is hummingbird pollinated.
Like many species in the snapdragon family Indian paintbrush is a partial parasite -- it’s green and photosynthetic, but its roots need to attach to the roots of other plants to obtain water and nutrients before the
plant can mature.
Plants grow to 60 cm tall on erect purple stems with fine hairs. Basal leaves are long in rosettes and the stem leaves are stalkless with three to five narrow lobes.
Flowers are bilaterally symmetric, narrow tubes 2 to 3 cm long. Typical flowers in the family have five petals fused to form a 2-lobed upper lip over a 3-lobed lower lip, 4 stamens and an ovary with two
lobes. Mints -- another large family with bilaterally symmetric flowers -- have 4-lobed ovaries. Pale Indian paintbrush, with yellow bracts, is similar. Many more species occur further west.
Origin of the name: Castilleja, for the Spanish botanist, Domingo Castillejo; coccineus, L., scarlet
Range: Eastern N. Amer., New England to s. Manitoba, s. to TX, FL
WI Range: Statewide, except over granite bedrock in the Northern Highlands
Common associates: big-bluestem, juniper, mountain mint
Wetland Indicator Status: FAC
Coefficient of Conservatism: 6, WI; 8, Michigan; 10, Chicago Region
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