Indian paintbrush

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Indian paintbrush leaf

Indian paintbrush

Indian paintbrush

Indian paintbrush flowers

Indian paintbrush leaf

Indian paintbrush

Indian paintbrush habit

Indian paintbrush leaf

Indian paintbrush

Indian paintbrush

Indian paintbrush

Morphology

Stem

Ascending to erect, usually solitary, simple or sometimes branched, short-hairy.

Leaves

Alternate, sessile; basal rosette leaves oblanceolate to egg-shaped, entire, often persisting until flowering; principal stem leaves lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 1.2 to 3.2 inches long, entire to commonly 3-7-cleft; segments linear or oblong, tips blunt or rounded, terminal segment usually largest.

Inflorescence

Spike, dense, bright red, reddish-orange, or occasionally yellow or white, 1.6 to 2.4 inches long, elongating to 4 to 8 inches in fruit, terminal.

Flower

Bracts subtending flowers prominent, lanceolate, deeply 3-5-lobed, lobe tips blunt to rounded, often more brightly colored than flowers; calyces scarlet, 3/5 to 1 inch long, deeply divided into 2 broad, rounded lateral lobes; corollas 2-lipped, greenish-yellow, slightly longer than calyx; upper lip beak-like, erect, straight, 1/3 to 2/5 inch long, lower lip well developed, less than 1/3 as long as upper lip; stamens 4, ascending under upper lip.

Fruit

Capsule, asymmetrical, egg-shaped, 1/3 to 2/5 inch long; seeds numerous, small, angular.

Ecology

Habitat

Moist prairies, hay meadows, thickets, open moist woods, roadside ditches, and wet ground along streams; damp sandy soil.

Distribution

East 1/6 of Kansas.

Practical Information

Uses

Native Americans used an infusion of flowers to treat colds and would use the plant as a love charm by hiding it on the person who was the object of their infatuation.

Additional Notes