AUTUMN PAINTBRUSH

Castilleja linariifolia

Figwort Family (Scrophulariaceae)

This tall, late-flowering paintbrush is quite different from our common spring-flowering species. It is a tall, airy, branching plant with long, threadlike leaves and scarlet spikes of flowers on the branch tips. It provides welcome color in the late summer garden with a minimum of added water. Like its spring-flowering relative, it is a root parasite that does best when planted with deep-rooted, shrubby hosts like big sagebrush and rubber rabbitbrush. Autumn paintbrush is a common plant, especially in canyons and on floodplains throughout our region. It looks handsome against the silver-green foliage of desert shrubs and also combines well with large summer-flowering grasses like alkali sacaton grass. Its seeds are easily collected in the fall and planted in openings around shrubs. This is often the most practical way to obtain paintbrushes in the garden, as they are rarely available in nurseries. Once established, they persist for many years.