DOWNY PAINTBRUSH
File Size: 138 KB
 
Castilleja sessiliflora  Pursh
Mitchell County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 4-12 inches
Family: Scrophulariaceae - Figwort Family
Flowering Period:   May, June
Stems: Ascending to erect, mostly simple, usually clustered, very leafy, densely soft-hairy.
Leaves: Mostly alternate, simple, sessile, linear or upper often divided into 3 narrow lobes, 1-3 inches long, mostly less than 1/4 inch wide, crowded, soft-hairy; margins of lower leaves entire.
Inflorescences: Spikes, to 8 inches long, 10-20-flowered, terminal.
Flowers: Subtended by bracts, 1-2 inches long, 3-lobed, green, tips sometimes pinkish; calyces 1 to 1.5 inches long, bearing 5 linear lobes, greenish, soft-hairy; corollas 1.5 to 2.25 inches long, 2-lipped, upper lip arched, about twice as long as 3-lobed lower lip, pale yellow or creamy white to pinkish purple, projecting conspicuously beyond bracts; stamens 4, in 2 pairs.
Fruits: Capsules, oblong-lanceolate, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, woody, tips pointed; seeds numerous, small, angular.
Habitat: Dry prairies and rocky hillsides.
Distribution: West 4/5 of Kansas.
Comments: Downy paintbrush is partially parasitic on the roots of other plants, often members of the aster family.

Downy paintbrush
128 KB
Mitchell County, Kansas
Downy paintbrush inflorescence
73 KB
Mitchell County, Kansas
Downy paintbrush inflorescence
71 KB
Mitchell County, Kansas
Downy paintbrush
115 KB
Ellis County, Kansas
Downy paintbrush
115 KB
Russell County, Kansas
Downy paintbrush
187 KB
Russell County, Kansas
Downy paintbrush
151 KB
Russell County, Kansas
Downy paintbrush habit
202 KB
Russell County, Kansas
Downy paintbrush flowers
135 KB
Russell County, Kansas
Downy paintbrush flowers
110 KB
Russell County, Kansas