Castilleja foliolosa Hook. & Arn.
Woolly Indian paintbrush, Texas paintbrush, Texas Indian paintbrush
Texas Indian paintbrush is a North American native, but it isn’t found in Texas at all: it is found in northern Baja California and California. If you’re interested in Castillejas, don’t miss Mark Egger’s superb photographic compilation on Flickr. See also this Castilleja comparison table.
Plants: 12–24″ (30–60 cm) tall, multiply branched, coated with a “felt” of white to gray, branched hairs.
Leaves: ⅜–1¾″ (1–5 cm) long, mostly linear (long and narrow), sometimes forked.
Flowers: Flower clusters are 1–8″ (3–20 cm). Each flower is ½–⅞″ (1.5–2.5 cm) in size, surrounded with bracts (modified leaves) of similar size. Flowers are orange-red or sometimes yellow-green in color, appearing from March to June.
Fruits: ⅜–½″ (1–1.5 cm) long, with seeds that are 1/32–1/16″ (1.5–2 mm).
Habitats: Yellow pine forest, foothills woodlands, chaparral, grasslands.
Online References:
2/26/2010 · Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, La Jolla, California · ≈ 2 × 1½″ (5.1 × 3.9 cm) 
2/26/2010 · Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, La Jolla, California · ≈ 2½ × 3″ (7 × 7.8 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Asteridae | A large class that encompasses asters |
| Order | Lamiales | Aromatic herbs and shrubs, including lavender, lilac, olive, jasmine, ash, teak, snapdragon, sesame, psyllium, garden sage, mint, basil, and rosemary |
| Family | Orobanchaceae | Broomrape family of parasitic plants |
| Genus | Castilleja | Named for Spanish botanist Domingo Castillejo |
| Species | foliolosa | “Containing leaflets” |
Castilleja foliolosa description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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