Plant Name
Scientific Name: Castilleja exserta
Synonym: Orthocarpus purpurascens
Common Names: Exserted Indian Paintbrush, Purple Owl's-clover
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Annual
Growth Habit: Herb/Forb, Hemiparasite
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert, Upland
Flower Color: Magenta purple
Flowering Season: Spring
Height: To 18 inches (46 cm) tall
Description: The bilateral, magenta flowers have a narrow, hairy, beak-like upper lip and a broader lower lip with 3 yellow-tipped pouches. The flowers are surrounded by magenta-colored bracts that are densely clustered along the flower spikes. The leaves intergrade with the bracts and like them have 5 to 9, slender, glandular-hairy, primary lobes.
Seeds of this spring wildflower are commercially available and are commonly included in wildflower seed mixes.
Special Characteristics
Hummingbird Flower – The flowers attract hummingbirds.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Scrophulariales
Family: Scrophulariaceae – Figwort family
Genus: Castilleja Mutis ex L. f. – Indian paintbrush
Species: Castilleja exserta (A. Heller) T.I. Chuang & Heckard – exserted Indian paintbrush
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