Castilleja chromosa

Desert paintbrush

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Desert paintbrush is a California native perennial found in the Great Basin, southern Sierra Nevada, Mojave Desert, and eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains in dry sagebrush scrub and pinyon/juniper woodland at elevations below 3,000 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces bright red to yellow-orange flowers along bracts 20 to 30 millimeters long, creating vivid color displays against its gray-green foliage. Growing with few-branched stems 15 to 45 centimeters tall, it develops a distinctive grayish appearance with bristly, unbranched hairs. Its lance-linear leaves feature 3 to 5 widely spreading lobes extending 20 to 70 millimeters, contributing to its delicate and intricate structure. The fruit develops 10 to 15 millimeters long, with seeds featuring a deeply netted coat that creates an intricate ladder-like pattern.

Habitat: Dry sagebrush scrub, pinyon/juniper woodland

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: < 3000 m

Bioregions: CaRH, s SNH, ne SnBr, GB, DMoj

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Kern, Tulare, Mono, Lassen, Riverside, Modoc, Fresno, Shasta, Alpine, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Plumas, Placer, Ventura

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