LEMON PAINTBRUSH
File Size: 129 KB
 
Castilleja purpurea   (Nutt. ) G. Don  var. citrina  (Pennell ) Shinners
Barber County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 4-16 inches
Family: Scrophulariaceae - Figwort Family
Flowering Period:   April, May, June
Stems: Erect or ascending, clustered, simple to few-branched, woolly-hairy.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, sessile, linear to lanceolate, 1.25 to 2.5 inches long, with 1-3 pairs of narrow lateral lobes.
Inflorescences: Spikes, dense, bright yellow or greenish yellow, terminal.
Flowers: Subtended by prominent, leafy bracts, 1 or 2 pairs of narrow lobes at sides, tips lemon yellow; calyces 1 to 1 1/3 inches long, cleft into lobes that terminate in linear-lanceolate segments, concealing corollas; corollas 2-lipped, upper lip folded, longer than lower lip, deep green with yellow margins, lower lip widely flaring, green with yellow tip; stamens 4, in 2 pairs.
Fruits: Capsules, egg-shaped, woody; seeds numerous, small, angular.
Habitat: Dry rocky or sandy bluffs and prairie hills.
Distribution: Principally southwest 1/4 of Kansas.
Comments: Lemon paintbrush is partially parasitic on the roots of other plants.

Lemon paintbrush
118 KB
Barber County, Kansas
Lemon paintbrush
137 KB
Barber County, Kansas
Lemon paintbrush
172 KB
Big Basin, Clark County, Kansas
Lemon paintbrush habit
237 KB
Clark County, Kansas
Lemon paintbrush
167 KB
Barber County, Kansas
Lemon paintbrush
174 KB
Barber County, Kansas
Lemon paintbrush inflorescence
106 KB
Barber County, Kansas