Indian paintbrush ~ 05/23/10 ~ Jacks Peak

(pale form, most likely)

(pale form, most likely)

(normal color)

(note the very red stem is somewhat unusual)

Indian paintbrush
Castilleja affinis
Orobanchaceae (formerly Scrophulariaceae)

Given my current confusion over the Castilleja genus, I'm going to leave these mostly unidentified. I suspect I have 3-4 species shown above. The first two pics were the first time I noticed the hemiparasitic nature of paintbrushes as they were well off the ground and growing on top of the unknown shrub. If you look closely at the second picture, there's an immature katydid (and, no, I didn't do it!). Maybe if I'm really nice, I can get Mark Egger to look at my collection of paintbrush pictures.

ps 07/09/10 - After opening a Flickr account, Mark Egger took a look at my request and helped me with the IDs several weeks ago. He believes they're all the same species. I'm still finding it hard to accept, but I trust his expert opinion. Really, what do I know about paintbrushes, other than they're pretty? I've separated out paintbrushes and what I'd consider owl's clovers, in my labels below and in the side bar, despite the common names. Oh, Calflora's lists Castilleja under Scrophulariaceae, but I'm moving them to the Orobanchaceae family. Also, it seems Jepson's online objects to the term "Indian paintbrush," but I don't see anyone knowing what I'm talking about if I say "Lay and Collie's paintbrush." As always, thank you, Mark Egger!