Castilleja exserta subsp. venusta

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: annual · Native

Purple owl's clover is a California native annual found in the western Mojave Desert in dry sandy washes at elevations of 600 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces bright rose-red flowers with distinctive yellow to orange-tipped pouch-like corollas. Growing with slender stems that reach 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it displays delicate branching characteristics typical of owl's clover species. Its bracts are narrow, generally less than 5 millimeters wide, with lobes longer than 2 millimeters and colored in dark red with deep pink or purple tips. The plant's vibrant coloration and unique flower structure make it a striking component of its desert habitat.

Habitat: Dry sand, washes

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 600-1500 m

Bioregions: w DMoj.

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo

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