Downy paintbrush

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Downy paintbrush

Downy paintbrush

Downy paintbrush

Downy paintbrush

Downy paintbrush flowers

Downy paintbrush habit

Downy paintbrush

Downy paintbrush flowers

Downy paintbrush

Downy paintbrush inflorescence

Downy paintbrush inflorescence

Morphology

Stem

Ascending to erect, mostly simple, usually clustered, very leafy, densely soft-hairy.

Leaves

Mostly alternate, simple, sessile, linear or upper often divided into 3 narrow lobes, 1-3 inches long, mostly less than 1/4 inch wide, crowded, soft-hairy; margins of lower leaves entire.

Inflorescence

Spikes, to 8 inches long, 10-20-flowered, terminal.

Flower

Subtended by bracts, 1-2 inches long, 3-lobed, green, tips sometimes pinkish; calyces 1 to 1.5 inches long, bearing 5 linear lobes, greenish, soft-hairy; corollas 1.5 to 2.25 inches long, 2-lipped, upper lip arched, about twice as long as 3-lobed lower lip, pale yellow or creamy white to pinkish purple, projecting conspicuously beyond bracts; stamens 4, in 2 pairs.

Fruit

Capsules, oblong-lanceolate, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, woody, tips pointed; seeds numerous, small, angular.

Ecology

Habitat

Dry prairies and rocky hillsides.

Distribution

West 4/5 of Kansas.

Additional Notes