Coast Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja affinis ssp. affinis) is a native perennial herb that grows in northern, southern and central California. It tends to grow in sea bluffs and , at elevations from 0-3900 feet.

The Tiburon paintbrush or Tiburon Indian paintbrush (Castilleja neglecta syn. for Castilleja affinis spp. neglecta) is an endangered taxon of flowering plant in the broomrape family, Orobanchaceae. It is endemic to the San Francisco Bay Area in California in the United States, where it occurs in Marin, Napa, and Santa Clara Counties. This plant is listed as threatened by the state of California and endangered by the United States government. This plant is a perennial herb with a bristly green and purplish stem 15 to 60 centimeters tall. The lance-shaped leaves are 2 to 4 centimeters long and lobed or not. The inflorescence is up to 2. 5 centimeters wide and has bracts in shades of yellow, sometimes to pink or reddish orange. The flowers are roughly 2 centimeters long and vary from green to purple with red or yellow margins. The plant grows on serpentine soils below 300 meters in elevation.

Castilleja ambigua is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name Johnny-nip. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California, where it is most common along the coast in salt marshes and scrub. This is a highly variable annual herb growing to a maximum height near 30 centimeters. The leaves are 1 to 5 centimeters long and lobed or not. The inflorescence is up to 12 centimeters long and a few wide. It is packed with bracts that have white to light purple ridged tips. Between the bracts emerge the lobed flowers, which are yellow to light purple or rose. The fruit is a capsule about a centimeter long. This is a highly variable annual herb growing to a maximum height near 30 centimeters. The leaves are 1 to 5 centimeters long and lobed or not. The inflorescence is up to 12 centimeters long and a few wide. It is packed with bracts that have white to light purple ridged tips. Between the bracts emerge the lobed flowers, which are yellow to light purple or rose. The fruit is a capsule about a centimeter long. Subspecies. There are three subspecies, two of which are endemic to California. The Humboldt Bay owl's clover, Castilleja ambigua ssp. humboldtiensis, is considered a threatened plant in Northern California.

Castilleja applegatei is a species of Castilleja known by the common names Applegate's Indian paintbrush and wavyleaf Indian paintbrush. It is native to the western United States. It is a short perennial with sticky, wavy-edged leaves. It bears bright, showy paintbrush-shaped flower clusters of small red to yellowish-red tubular flowers.

Brewer's Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja applegatei ssp. pallida) is a native perennial herb that grows in Central and Northern California, primarily in the High Sierra Nevada and Sierra Nevada East regions. It tends to grow in dry open places, at elevations from 7000-11000 feet.

Castilleja arachnoidea is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name cobwebby Indian paintbrush. It is native to northern California and Nevada and southern Oregon, where it is a resident of the local mountain ranges and the Modoc Plateau. This is a small woolly perennial herb growing up to about 30 centimeters in maximum height. Its narrow, pointed leaves are a few centimeters long and may be lobed. The flower cluster is coated in cobwebby fibers. The leafs are yellowish to dull red and the pouchlike flowers which emerge between them are greenish yellow to purplish red in color. The fruit is a capsule about a centimeter long.

Castilleja attenuata is a species of Indian paintbrush, known by the common names valley tassels and attenuate Indian paintbrush. It is native to western North America from British Columbia, through California, to Baja California, where it grows in grasslands and open woodland habitats. Castilleja attenuata is an annual herb growing up to about 50 centimeters tall. The leaves are linear in shape and several centimeters long. The inflorescence has three-lobed bracts with yellow or white tips. Between the bracts emerge fuzzy white flowers dotted with purple and yellow.

Castilleja brevistyla is a species of Castilleja (Indian paintbrush) known by the common name shortstyle Indian paintbrush. It is endemic to California, where it grows on the grassy mountain slopes surrounding the San Joaquin Valley. This annual herb grows up to about 40 centimeters tall with linear leaves each a few centimeters long. The inflorescence has bracts tipped in pink or reddish purple. Between the bracts appear pouched, fuzzy purplish or pink flowers.

Castilleja campestris is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name vernal pool Indian paintbrush. It is native to California and southern Oregon, where it grows in seasonally moist habitat, especially vernal pools. It is an annual herb growing 10 to 30 centimeters tall with linear or narrowly lance-shaped leaves up to 4 centimeters long. The inflorescence is up to 15 centimeters long. It is filled with leaflike green bracts which are generally not tipped with another color. The flower is yellow or orange. It is an annual herb growing 10 to 30 centimeters tall with linear or narrowly lance-shaped leaves up to 4 centimeters long. The inflorescence is up to 15 centimeters long. It is filled with leaflike green bracts which are generally not tipped with another color. The flower is yellow or orange. Subspecies. There are two subspecies of this plant. The rare Castilleja campestris subspecies succulenta, the succulent owl's clover or fleshy Indian paintbrush, is endemic to California and limited to the San Joaquin Valley of California and adjacent lower Sierra Nevada foothills, where its vernal pool habitat has been largely eliminated for human activity such as agriculture and development.

Castilleja angustifolia is a species of wildflower known by the common names northwestern paintbrush and desert Indian paintbrush. It is an herbaceous perennial native to the desert scrub and woodlands of western North America. This Indian paintbrush is under half a meter in height and has bristly gray-green to purple-red herbage. It stands in a clump of erect stems, each topped with an flower cluster of somewhat tubular flowers in bright red to orange-red, sometimes tinted with purple, and usually fuzzy with a thin coat of white hairs. The centimeter-long capsule fruits contain honeycomb-patterned seeds. This plant can be red orange or yellow in color.

Castilleja cinerea is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name ashgray Indian paintbrush. It is endemic to San Bernardino County, California, where it is known only from the San Bernardino Mountains. There are about 20 occurrences known. This is a perennial herb growing up to 15 centimeters tall and covered in a coat of ash-gray woolly hairs. The leaves are linear or narrowly lance-shaped and one or two centimeters long. The inflorescence is made up of fuzzy dull to bright reddish or purplish pink bracts between which emerge smaller yellowish to greenish flowers. The color of the inflorescence is influenced by the environment of the plant; those with more northern exposures tend to have yellowish flowers and those facing south have more reddish flowers. Like other Castilleja species, this plant parasitizes other species for water and nutrients; C. cinerea is generally found tapping buckwheats (Eriogonum spp. ) and sagebrushes (Artemisia spp. ). Habitat. Castilleja cinerea grows in several habitat types, including dry desert and sagebrush scrub, woodland, and coniferous forest. It is also known from the unique quartzite pebble plain habitat in these mountains, which it shares with other endemics such as Arenaria ursina. Threats. The Castilleja cinerea plant is a federally listed threatened species. Threats to its survival include development of its habitat for human use, recreation, off-road vehicles, logging, grazing, mining, and invasive species of plants.

Castilleja densiflora is a herbaceous flowering plant species known by the common name denseflower Indian paintbrush. Like other members of the Indian paintbrushs it is a root-parasite. It is native to California and northern Baja California, where it grows in grassland and chaparral habitat. It is a variable species. It is generally 10 to 40 centimeters tall with linear or lance-shaped leaves up to 8 centimeters long, and with or without lobes. The inflorescence is as small as 3 centimeters or as long as 25 centimeters in length, and has bracts tipped in white to dull or bright pink or purple. Between the bracts appear the flowers, which are somewhat rounded and pouched, and white to yellow to pink or purple in color.

Purple owl's clover (Castilleja exserta) is an annual in the same species as the Indian paintbrushes. It was formerly included in the genus Orthocarpus, and some sources may still refer to it by that name. Although this species is variable in appearance and easily hybridizes with other Castilleja, it generally bears shaggy pink-purple or lavender flower clusters that resemble clover (though they are not related). The thin, erect leaves are usually tipped with the same color, giving the flower cluster the appearance of a paintbrush. It produces pods containing seeds.

The plant's showy appearance when in flower makes it a great fit for informal meadows and related landscapes. Like other related plants in the family, purple owl's clover derives some of its nutrients directly from the roots of other plants. Therefore, it is almost always planted, or grown from seed, with a perennial species from its natural plant community to serve as the host plant, such as a native grass. It takes full sun, prefers fast-draining soil but is tolerant of sand and clay. It does not need summer water.

The flowers attract bees and butterflies. It is a crucial host plant for the Bay Checkerspot butterfly, a threatened species in California, and hosts a likely total of 12 species of butterfly and moth.

Pale Purple Owlclover (Castilleja exserta ssp. exserta) is one of three recognized subspecies of Castilleja exserta that occur in California. For further details please refer to the main species page for Castilleja exserta.

Castilleja foliolosa is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common names woolly Indian paintbrush and Texas Indian paintbrush. It is native to California and northern Baja California, where it grows in coastal sage scrub, chaparral and rocky desert and mountain slopes. Despite its common name, it does not occur in Texas. It is a parasitic or semi-parasitic plant on a variety of small shrubs such as Chamise, Golden Yarrow or Sagebrush. This perennial wildflower grows up to 60 centimeters tall and is coated in woolly white or gray branching hairs. The leaves are linear in shape and up to 5 centimeters long. The flower cluster is made up of layers of leaves tipped in bright orange-red to dull yellowish green. Between the colorful leaves appear the nondescript flowers, which are greenish in color and pouch-shaped. The fruit is a capsule just over a centimeter long.

Castilleja grisea is a rare species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name San Clemente Island Indian paintbrush. It is endemic to San Clemente Island, one of the Channel Islands of California. San Clemente Island is owned by the US Navy so the Navy is involved in a management program to recover this species. This species was once considered to be "relatively common" on its home island. Since then the habitat has been severely degraded, mainly by feral goats which were introduced there. The island was also used for grazing sheep and cattle, and some feral pigs were present. The animals may have eaten the plant at times, but they mainly damaged the land by trampling the soil, which led to soil compaction, loss of topsoil, and erosion. The introduction of exotic plant species such as ripgut brome (Bromus diandrus), wild oat (Avena barbata), and red brome (Bromus madritensis rubus) also degraded the habitat. Due to sttep terrain of San Clemente Island the exact abundance of Castilleja grisea is not currently known. Recent surveys have discovered new populations of this species. Surveys in 2007 estimate more than 10,000 plants existing. This plant has been a federally listed endangered species since 1977, when it was one of the first species to be designated so. The plant's population had been drastically reduced by the activity of the feral goats. Its populations has increased at least ten-fold since the removal of these non-native herbivores. The species has recovered so well through management programs by the Navy, it was recommended for downlisting during the last review conducted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Remaining threats include erosion, invasive grasses, and wildfire from military exercises. The species has a relatively high genetic variability for an uncommon island endemic. This and its steady recovery from low numbers give an optimistic outlook for the species' recovery.

Harsh Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja hispida) is a uncommon native perennial herb that grows in California, primarily in the Klamath Mountain Range region. It is fast growing and short-lived. It grows in an upright form to a height of 1.5 feet, with active growth during the spring and summer. Flowers are red and striking, and bloom in the mid spring. Leaves are light-green and deciduous. It tends to grow in dry open places, at elevations from 700-5600 feet.

Castilleja lacera is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name cutleaf Indian paintbrush. It is native to California and southern Oregon, where it grows in grassy mountain and foothill habitat. This is an annual herb coated in glandular hairs and growing up to about 40 centimeters tall. It has linear and lance-shaped leaves up to 5 centimeters long. The inflorescence is made up of hairy green bracts and bright yellow pouched flowers.

Sierra Woolly Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja lanata) is a native perennial herb that grows in California, primarily in the Channel Islands region. It tends to grow at elevations from 100-1000 feet.

Castilleja lasiorhyncha is a species of Indian paintbrush is endemic to southern California known by the common name San Bernardino Mountains Indian paintbrush. Most of the plant's range is in the San Bernardino Mountains, where it grows in forests and meadows. Castilleja lasiorhyncha only existing populations are in San Bernardino County and possibly San Diego County, with historical occurrences also known from Riverside County. This wildflower is an annual herb usually not exceeding 20 centimeters in height. Its stem and foliage are coated in woolly glandular hairs. The inflorescence is a loose, narrow array of green bracts and larger flowers, each with rounded, pouched bright yellow petals and a hairy whitish beak.

Castilleja latifolia is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name Monterey Indian paintbrush. It is endemic to the coastline of California between the San Francisco Bay Area and Monterey County. Its range extends from about Point Reyes to Big Sur. It is a plant of the immediate coastline, growing in sand dunes and coastal scrub. This wildflower is a perennial herb growing up to about 60 centimeters tall and spreading into a shrublike form as it ages over the years. It is bristly and hairy with green, gray-green, purple or purple-tinted herbage. The fleshy leaves are rounded or oval and up to 2 centimeters long. The flower cluster is made up of layers of greenish leafs tipped with dull to very bright shades of red, orange, or yellow. Between the leafs appear the flowers, which are often similar in coloration. The fruit is a capsule up to 2 centimeters long.

Castilleja lemmonii is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name Lemmon's Indian paintbrush. It is native to the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascade Range in California, and just into western Nevada. It grows in moist meadows. Castilleja lemmonii is a perennial herb 10 to 20 centimeters tall coated in glandular hairs. The leaves are 2 to 4 centimeters long and linear to narrowly lance-shaped. The inflorescence is made up of many purple- or pink-tipped greenish bracts. Between the bracts appear small yellowish flowers.

Castilleja linariifolia is a perennial plant, native to the United States and is the state flower of Wyoming. It has a number of common names including Wyoming Indian paintbrush, Narrow-leaved Indian paintbrush, desert paintbrush, Wyoming desert paintbrush, Wyoming paintbrush, linaria-leaved Indian Paintbrush, and Indian paint brush. It grows up to 1 meter in height and has linear leaves which are between 20 and 80 millimeter in length and have up to 3 lobes. The flowers, which consist of a red to yellow calyx and yellow-green floral tube, appear in panicles or spikes between June and September in its native range.

Castilleja mendocinensis is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name Mendocino Coast Indian paintbrush. It is endemic to the coastline of Mendocino County, California, where it grows in coastal sage scrub habitat. It is also known from isolated occurrences in Humboldt County. Castilleja mendocinensis is a heavily branching, spreading perennial herb growing up to about 60 centimeters long. It is coated in bristles and light-colored rough hairs, giving it a gray-green color. The leaves are fleshy and rounded or oval in shape, and not more than about 2 centimeters long. The inflorescence is made up of layers of lobed bracts which are greenish at the base and tipped with shades of bright orange-red to red. Between the bracts emerge the hairy, tubular flowers which are greenish or yellowish and sometimes red-tinted. The fruit is a capsule up to 2 centimeters in length.

Castilleja miniata is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name giant red Indian paintbrush. It is native to western North America from Alaska to Ontario to California to New Mexico, where it grows usually in moist places in a wide variety of habitat types. This wildflower is a perennial herb growing up to about 80 centimeters tall, slender and green to dark purple in herbage color. The lance-shaped leaves are 3 to 6 centimeters long, pointed, and coated in thin hairs. The flower cluster is made up of bright red to pale orange or orange-tipped leafs. Between the leafs emerge the yellow-green, red-edged tubular flowers.

Castilleja minor is a species of flowering plant in the broomrape family known by the common name lesser Indian paintbrush. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to New Mexico, where it grows in moist habitats such as spring meadows. This is an annual herb growing a mostly unbranching slender stem to heights from 30 centimeters to well over a meter. The leaves are lance-shaped and several centimeters long. The top of the stem is occupied by an flower cluster of green leafs tipped with bright red and smaller, yellowish flowers. The fruit is a capsule just over a centimeter long.

Lesser Paintbrush (Castilleja minor ssp. minor) is a native annual herb that grows in northern, southern and central California. It tends to grow in wet places, at elevations from 3900-7200 feet.

Castilleja mollis is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name softleaf Indian paintbrush. It is endemic to the Channel Islands of California, where it is currently known only from Santa Rosa Island. An occurrence was once noted on San Miguel Island, but the plant has not been found there since 1938. Its habitat is the coastal sage scrub around the windy sand dunes and bluffs. This wildflower is a perennial herb with many spreading, prostrate branches up to about 40 centimeters long. The plant is coated in woolly, tangled, sometimes glandular hairs that give it a gray-green tint. The leaves are 1 to 3 centimeters long and oval. The inflorescence is up to 8 centimeters long and made up of fleshy green or yellow-green bracts. Between the bracts bloom the pale to bright yellow pouched flowers. Like other Castilleja, this Castilleja mollis is hemiparasitic, attaching its roots to those of other plants to tap nutrients and water. The host plant for this Castilleja species is probably Menzies' goldenbush, Isocoma menziesii. Castilleja mollis is a federally listed endangered species. There are two known occurrences of the plant remaining on Santa Rosa Island. It has become rare due to habitat destruction, mainly from the presence of domesticated and feral ungulates such as cattle, elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti), and deer (Odocoileus hemionus). These animals trample the soil, which compacts and degrades it. Deer also tend to use patches of the plant as bedding. Introduced plant species have also taken over the area. The cattle and most of the other non-native animals have been removed, but many weeds remain, such as ice plant. The plant depends on Menzies' goldenbush, which has also declined in the area, its habitat becoming fragmented. Invasive grasses prevent the small Castilleja plants from establishing haustoria, its connections to the roots of the goldenbush. This Castilleja may hybridize with Castilleja affinis. A 2008 review of the species' status indicated that the plant has rebounded somewhat since the removal of the ungulates, but it is still vulnerable enough that it will not yet be downlisted from endangered status.

Heckard's Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja montigena) is a rare native perennial herb that grows in southern California.

Castilleja nana is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name dwarf alpine Indian paintbrush. It is native to the western United States from the Sierra Nevada of California east to Utah, where it grows in dry, rocky alpine habitat. This is a small, hairy perennial herb growing up to about 25 centimeters tall but often remaining much smaller. The leaves are narrowly lance-shaped and up to about 3.5 centimeters long. The flower cluster is a cluster of pointed yellow-green, pink, or pale purple, hairy leafs. Between the leafs appear the small purple-spotted yellow flowers, which are pouched with tiny, protruding stigmas.

Castilleja pilosa is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name parrothead Indian paintbrush. It is native to the western United States from California to Wyoming, where it grows in mountain and plateau habitat across the Great Basin and surrounding regions. It is known from sagebrush scrub to high mountains in alpine climates. This wildflower is a perennial herb growing upright or along the ground with hairy stems up to about 35 centimeters long. It is quite variable in appearance. The inflorescence is made up of layers of greenish, purplish, or pink bracts sometimes edged in white. Between the bracts bloom the pouched yellow-green flowers with protruding stigmas. This wildflower is a perennial herb growing upright or along the ground with hairy stems up to about 35 centimeters long. It is quite variable in appearance. The inflorescence is made up of layers of greenish, purplish, or pink bracts sometimes edged in white. Between the bracts bloom the pouched yellow-green flowers with protruding stigmas. Varieties: There are several varieties of this species:C. p. var. longispica (longspike Indian paintbrush) - limited to Idaho, Montana, and WyomingC. p. var. pilosa - limited to California, Oregon, and NevadaC. p. var. steenensis (Steens Indian paintbrush) - endemic to Oregon

Castilleja plagiotoma (Mojave Indian paintbrush) is a hemiparasitic perennial plant with green flowers that grows in deserts of California. It is in the Castilleja genus of the broomrape plant family. It is included in the CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants.

Castilleja praeterita is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name Salmon Creek Indian paintbrush. It is endemic to the High Sierra Nevada of California, where it grows in dry sagebrush meadows. This is a branching perennial herb growing a hairy stem up to about 45 centimeters in maximum height. The linear leaves are 3 to 5 centimeters long. The glandular, hairy inflorescence is made up of pale green bracts tipped in pale red to bright yellow. Between the bracts emerge the pouched flowers which are tinted with purple or yellow along the edges. This is a branching perennial herb growing a hairy stem up to about 45 centimeters in maximum height. The linear leaves are 3 to 5 centimeters long. The glandular, hairy inflorescence is made up of pale green bracts tipped in pale red to bright yellow. Between the bracts emerge the pouched flowers which are tinted with purple or yellow along the edges.

Castilleja pruinosa is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name frosted Indian paintbrush. It is native to California and Oregon, where it grows in several types of forested habitat. Castilleja pruinosa is a perennial herb, sometimes becoming bushy, growing up to about 80 centimeters in maximum height. It is densely hairy, becoming gray-green in color. The leaves are lance-shaped and sometimes lobed, measuring up to 8 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a cluster of bright red or orange-red bracts. Flowers emerge between the bracts, each up to 2 or 3 centimeters long and greenish in color with reddish margins. San Gabriel Mountains. The rare species Castilleja gleasonii, which is endemic to the San Gabriel Mountains of California, is sometimes included in C. pruinosa.

Castilleja rubicundula is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name cream sacs. This wildflower is native to northern California and southern Oregon, where it lives on coastal and inland grasslands. It is a hairy, hairy annual growing to about half a meter in height, the stem leafy with lance-shaped foliage. It produces a terminal flower cluster and sometimes branches off several more flower clusters. The white, pink, yellow, or bicolored flowers are divided into usually three pouches, making them look inflated. Each pouch is about a centimeter wide and half a centimeter deep. Each flower has a beak extending about half a centimeter above the pouches. The fruit is a capsule containing tiny seeds less than a millimeter long. Under magnification the seed's honeycomb-patterned coat is visible.

Cream Sacs (Castilleja rubicundula ssp. lithospermoides) is a native annual herb that grows in central and northern California. It tends to grow in open grassy places, at elevations from 0-3000 feet.

Castilleja schizotricha is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name splithair Indian paintbrush. It is native to the Klamath Mountains of southern Oregon and northern California, where it grows in rocky soils in temperate coniferous forests. This wildflower is a perennial herb growing not more than about 15 centimeters tall and coated thickly in light-colored hairs, giving it a gray or white color. The woolly flower cluster is made up of layers of dusty red or pink leafs. Between the leafs emerge pouched dull reddish flowers.

Castilleja subinclusa is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name longleaf Indian paintbrush. It is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in a number of habitat types. It is divided into two subspecies which generally do not occur together; one is widespread across the mountains of the two states, while the other is limited to the coastline surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area. In general, this is a spreading perennial herb which can exceed a meter tall. It is gray-green to purple in herbage color, and usually hairy. The lance-shaped leaves are up to 8 centimeters long. The flower cluster is up to 40 centimeters long and is made up of long, pointed leafs tipped in bright red-orange to deep red. Between the colorful leafs appear lighter flowers, which are yellow-green to pinkish and hairy.