Wyoming Indian Paintbrush
The brilliant color belongs mostly to bracts, while the true flowers are smaller and tucked among them.
Artwork inspired by Travis Ivey
Wyoming Indian Paintbrush is the state flower, but it is not confined to Wyoming: its native range extends across much of the interior West. In Wyoming it appears in dry sagebrush, foothill, mountain, and open woodland settings, where narrow leaves and tall spikes of red, orange, pink, or occasionally yellow bracts stand above surrounding grasses and shrubs.
The bright structures are mostly bracts; the smaller true flowers sit inside them. Narrow, often divided leaves support identification, but western paintbrushes overlap and can hybridize, so color alone is unreliable. Like other Castilleja, the plant is a hemiparasite that taps neighboring roots for water and nutrients while still photosynthesizing for itself.
Enjoy colonies where they grow. Picking removes potential seed, and digging usually kills both the paintbrush and its relationship with nearby host plants. Stop only at a legal pullout, photograph from durable ground, and do not assume every red paintbrush is Castilleja linariifolia simply because it is growing in Wyoming.
- Wyoming role
- Official state flower
- Color
- Mostly showy bracts
- Ecology
- Partly parasitic roots
Quick guide
- First decision
- Narrow leaves and vivid red to orange bracts surrounding small greenish flowers on upright stems
- Context check
- dry sagebrush slopes, open woodland, foothills, and mountain meadows across the interior West; context: dry sagebrush slopes, open woodland, foothills, and mountain meadows across the interior West
Recognize and protect
- Establish the whole form
- Begin with Narrow leaves and vivid red to orange bracts surrounding small greenish flowers on upright stems.
- Separate the nearest alternative
- Confirm dry sagebrush slopes, open woodland, foothills, and mountain meadows across the interior West before settling on the identification.
- Add ecological context
- From June through August, look for red-orange bracts in dry sagebrush, open woodland, foothills, and mountain meadows.
- Leave the evidence intact
- Do not reposition, collect, bait, pursue, or clear vegetation around Wyoming Indian Paintbrush.
Good to know
The strongest Wyoming Indian Paintbrush record preserves the distinction between “Narrow leaves and vivid red to orange bracts surrounding small greenish flowers on upright stems” and “dry sagebrush slopes, open woodland, foothills, and mountain meadows across the interior West” while also showing the surrounding habitat.
Notice these
- Narrow leaves and vivid red to orange bracts surrounding small greenish flowers on upright stems
- dry sagebrush slopes, open woodland, foothills, and mountain meadows across the interior West
- Resumes growth in spring and flowers through summer, using root connections with neighboring plants.