Castilleja arachnoidea

Cobwebby indian paintbrush

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Cobwebby indian paintbrush is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, northern California Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada, and Modoc Plateau in open summits and dry rocky areas at elevations of 1,300 to 3,300 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces dull yellow to rusty red flowers with pale yellow teeth and pale green or purple-red pouches nestled within white-woolly bracts. Growing 8 to 30 centimeters tall with a white-woolly appearance, it has an intricate, delicate stem structure that blends into its rocky alpine environment. Its lance-linear leaves range from 20 to 60 millimeters long, with zero to five subtle lobes that contribute to its fine, intricate texture. The distinctive white-woolly bracts and subtle color variations make this indian paintbrush a subtle yet striking alpine species.

Habitat: Open summits, dry rocks

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1300-3300 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaRH, n SNH, MP

California counties: Siskiyou, Modoc, Trinity, Lassen, Shasta, Plumas, Tuolumne, Inyo, Sierra, Nevada, Glenn, Butte, Humboldt, Tehama, Del Norte, Mendocino

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.