Castilleja gleasoni

Mount gleason paintbrush, Mount Gleason Paintbrush

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Mount gleason paintbrush is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in the Mount Gleason region in rocky cliffs and open yellow-pine forest at elevations of 1,100 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces red bracts with red and yellow-margined flowers 25 to 30 millimeters long, creating a vibrant display. Growing with ash-gray stems 30 to 80 centimeters tall, it develops a densely branched and glandular-puberulent habit with few axillary shoots. Its leaves are linear to lanceolate, 20 to 60 millimeters long, with 0 to 3 lobes and obtuse tips. The fruit is approximately 15 millimeters long, with seeds 1 to 1.5 millimeters featuring a distinctive deeply netted coat with ladder-like walls.

Habitat: Cliffs, rocky slopes in open yellow-pine forest

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: 1100-2200 m

Bioregions: SnGb (Mount Gleason).

California counties: Los Angeles

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