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Castilleja ecuadorensis is a short-lived perennial paintbrush native to the high, wet moorlands (páramo) of southern Ecuador, growing at 3,000 to 4,000 m. It is a hemiparasite on other plants, so it is hard to grow outside its native habitat.
Castilleja ecuadorensis is a species of plant in the paintbrush genus (Castilleja), part of the broomrape family (Orobanchaceae). It is endemic to Ecuador where it grows at very high elevations, above 3,000 meters, in wet meadows. It was only scientifically described as a species in 1984.
This plant species is endemic to Ecuador in the southern part of the country on the páramos, high wet moorlands. There are six known populations. It grows in El Cajas National Park and may also grow in Podocarpus National Park. Locations in Azuay Province recorded by Holmgren in 1984 include 45 kilometers west-northwest of Cuenca around Laguna Toreador at 3,950 meters, 25 km from Cuenca on the road to Cajas around 3,500 m, and a páramo near Toreador between Molleturo and Quinoas between 3,810 and 3,930 m. To the south in Loja Province it was found 26.2 km north of Saraguro at 3,060 m and also along the Saraguro to Tenta road.
Coast Indian paintbrush · Johnny-nip · Northwestern Indian paintbrush · Wavyleaf Indian paintbrush · Aquarius Plateau Indian paintbrush · Cobwebby Indian paintbrush · Attenuate Indian paintbrush · Castilleja beldingii · Castilleja bella · Shortstyle Indian paintbrush · Vernal pool Indian paintbrush · Port Clarence Indian paintbrush
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Castilleja ecuadorensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
