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Cutleaf Indian paintbrush

Castilleja lacera

Also called Cut Leaved Paintbrush

Cutleaf Indian paintbrush
Photo: My-Lan Le https://www.inaturalist.org/people/mylan, CC BY 4.0

Cutleaf Indian paintbrush is a small native annual wildflower of grassy mountain and foothill meadows in California and southern Oregon. It is a hemiparasite that draws some nutrients from the roots of neighboring plants, so it is best left to a native meadow setting rather than a typical garden bed.

Family
Orobanchaceae (Orobanch family)
Grows as
Annual
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Keep soil moderately moist during growth; it tolerates the dry summers of its native habitat once established.
Soil
Well-drained, sandy or loamy soil, ideally among grasses.
Temperature
Hardy in temperate climates; tolerates frost and grows best in cool, mild seasons.
How easy
Hard
Native range
S. Oregon to N. & C. California
Climate
temperate

About

Castilleja lacera is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name cutleaf Indian paintbrush.

It is native to California and southern Oregon, where it grows in grassy mountain and foothill habitat. This is an annual herb coated in glandular hairs and growing up to about 40 centimeters tall. It has linear and lance-shaped leaves up to 5 centimeters long. The inflorescence is made up of hairy green bracts and bright yellow pouched flowers.

Other Castilleja plants

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 lacera 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.

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