Wildflowers of the United States

Scarlet Indian Paintbrush, Scarlet Paintbrush, Painted Cup, Prairie Fire - Castilleja coccinea

Family: Orobanchaceae - Broom-rape family

Native Status: Native

Dicot Annual Herb Leaves:Alternate Leaves:Lobed

Castilleja coccinea - Scarlet Indian Paintbrush, Scarlet Paintbrush, Painted Cup, Prairie Fire. The Castilleja genus - Indian Paintbrush - is named for Domingo Castillejo, an 18th-century Spanish botanist. The plants in this genus are hemiparasitic - while they produce their own nutrition, they also get nutrition from the roots of other plants when their roots touch and then penetrate those plants' roots (nearly the entire Orobanchaceae family of plants are root-parasitic.) The vast majority of the approximately 200 species in the genus are found in western North America. Many of those species in western North America have very limited distribution, some only in some very specific, small area. Many publications show Castilleja in the Scrophulariaceae family; in about 1995 (followed by the time to publish and be accepted) it was moved into Orobanchaceae as part of the distribution of most genera in Scrophulariaceae into several other families (some new.)

Castilleja coccinea, however, is a very widely distributed species, found in every state east of the Great Plains except Florida, and is one of only 3 species found east of the Mississippi River. The others are Castilleja septentrionalis (Labrador Indian Paintbrush) which is found but rare in Minnesota, Michigan, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, near the Canada border (as well as being found in the Rocky Mountains,) and Castilleja kraliana (Cahaba Paintbrush) which is found only in Bibb County, Alabama.

Found in:
AL, AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, WI, WV, GS

Distribution of Castilleja coccinea in the United States and Canada:

Map courtesy of The Biota of North America Program.
Map color key
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Site: Glade Top Trail Mark Twain National Forest Scenic Byway, Douglas County, MO Date: 2018-April-20	Photographer: Gerald C. Williamson Nikon D7000 Tamron SP 90MM f/2.8 AF Macro
The stem leaves of Indian Paintbrush are alternate, 3 to 5 lobed (rarely entire), and usually less than 2 inches long. The stem is usually unbranched, and is topped by a dense inflorescence.

Site: Glade Top Trail Mark Twain National Forest Scenic Byway, Douglas County, MO Date: 2018-April-20	Photographer: Gerald C Williamson Nikon D7000
The flowers in the inflorescence of Castilleja coccinea are a yellowish-green, and about an inch long. A reddish, 4-lobed calyx surrounds the flower, but the real showy color of the plant is from the red (rarely yellow) ends of the usually lobed bracts subtending the less showy flowers.The bases of the bract are green; a similar color to the flower.
Click on the photo for a larger image
Site: Glade Top Trail Mark Twain National Forest Scenic Byway, Douglas County, MO Date: 2018-April-27	Photographer: Gerald C Williamson Nikon D7000
Castilleja coccinea is an annual, growing from seed each year.
Click on the photo for a larger image
Site: Glade Top Trail Mark Twain National Forest Scenic Byway, Douglas County, MO Date: 2018-April-27	Photographer: Gerald C Williamson Nikon D7000
There is also a basal rosette of lobed leaves below the hairy stem.
Click on the photo for a larger image

References used for identification and information:

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Castilleja coccinea initially published on USWildflowers.com 2018-04-27; Updated 2018-04-27

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All content except USDA Plants Database map Copyright Gerald C. Williamson 2024
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Code Update 20230302