Summary ³

Castilleja exserta (formerly Orthocarpus purpurascens) is a species of plant in the genus which includes the Indian paintbrushes. Its common names include purple owl's clover, escobita, and exserted Indian paintbrush....

Description ⁴

The Castilleja exserta plant is an annual about 1 foot (0.30 m) tall with a hairy stem covered in thready leaves. Like other related Castilleja plants, this is a hemiparasite which derives some of its nutrients directly from the roots of other plants by injecting them with haustoria. This is the reason for its small, reduced leaves.

Although this species is variable in appearance and easily hybridizes with other Castilleja species, it generally bears a brightly colored inflorescence of shaggy pink-purple or lavender flowers. The thin, erect bracts are usually tipped with the same color, giving the inflorescence the appearance of a paintbrush.

Subspecies include:

Bay checkerspot butterfly host ⁴

This is a crucial host plant for the Bay checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha bayensis), endemic to the San Francisco Bay region in California, and a threatened species in the state.

The seeds were harvested by indigenous peoples of California, for food.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Joe Decruyenaere, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/38213125@N00/188972911
2. (c) dloarie, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by dloarie, http://www.flickr.com/photos/57556735@N08/5668402966
3. Adapted by Jeanne Wirka from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castilleja_exserta
4. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castilleja_exserta

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Calflora
• CalPhotos
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Jepson eFlora
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• World Flora Online

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