Castilleja plagiotoma

Mojave paintbrush, Mojave Paintbrush

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Mojave paintbrush is a California native perennial herb found in southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi, south Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, and Mojave Desert in dry sagebrush scrub and pinyon woodland at elevations of 300 to 2,500 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces white and pale yellow flowers with white-woolly bracts and distinctive broad, truncate green central lobes. Growing 30 to 60 centimeters tall with gray-green stems that turn dark red, it develops branched hairs and a puberulent texture. Its leaves are linear with 3 to 5 narrow lobes, each 20 to 50 millimeters long, creating a delicate, structured appearance. The fruit measures approximately 10 millimeters long with seeds featuring a deeply netted, ladder-like coat.

Habitat: Dry sagebrush scrub, pinyon woodland

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 300-2500 m

Bioregions: s SN, Teh, SCoRI, TR, DMoj.

California counties: Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Kern, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Benito, Santa Barbara, Fresno, Mono, Ventura

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