My next stop was at a seepy rock garden along the seemingly endless set of switchbacks leading up the side of the mountain. How else would we get new species, if they didn’t occasionally like to try something new?Ĭheckerspot chrysalis attached to a Lithophragma leaf It goes to show, once again, that the plants don’t read the books. Or perhaps they are hybrids (the standard last resort for botanical oddities). There were no flowers with 5 sepals, so my guess is that they are just very odd Stellaria obtusa. ![]() obtusa, a number of them had petals, and several had four relatively large petals, as well as longer sepals and no hairs. While most of these plants looked like typical S. Stellaria crispa has hairless, wavy leaves, five sharp sepals, and occasional squinny petals (for more on these two, see Stellaria obtusa at Horsepasture). Stellaria obtusa has ciliate hairs at the base of the leaves, four blunt sepals, and isn’t supposed to have petals. obtusa, but although I’ve been looking at these quite a lot the last few years, there were some plants that didn’t look like any I’d ever seen before. It was clearly either Stellaria crispa or S. Sure enough, within minutes of looking, I found some creeping along for some yards along the edge of the trail under the taller foliage of Mertensia paniculata, Polygonum ( Aconogonum?) phytolaccifolium, and others. Since my last trip here in 2007, I’ve become interested in our easily overlooked, tiny-flowered species. Indian paintbrush can grow as annual (lifespan: one year) or perennial (lifespan: more than 2 years) plant, depending on the species.Where the trail opens up into the large cliff-ringed bowl, I started looking for patches of Stellaria. Indian paintbrush can be used in the process of bioremediation (removal of pollutants from the soil with a help of living creatures) because of its ability to absorb and store large quantities of selenium in the roots and green parts.Ĭastilleja linariaefolia, is a species of Indian paintbrush, best known as the state flower of Wyoming. Indian paintbrush was used as a source of dyes in the past. They also used Indian paintbrush to improve quality and gloss of the hair. Native Americans used Indian paintbrush in treatment of rheumatism and to boost their immune system. Native Americans used flowers of Indian paintbrush as condiment. It was often used among various tribes of Native Americans, hence the name - Indian paintbrush. ![]() Upper part of Indian paintbrush resembles a brush covered with bright dyes. Indian paintbrush is able to absorb some of these alkaloids to protect itself also. Lupine produces alkaloids (type of bitter-tasting compounds) that repel herbivores. It often lives close to sagebrush and lupine. Indian paintbrush can parasitize on many plant species. Indian paintbrush can produce food via process of photosynthesis (like other green plants), but it thrives much better and survives even on the poor and dry soil when it "steals" water and nutrients from the roots of other plants. It uses specially designed tubes called haustoria (modified roots) for the absorption of water and nutrients from the roots of nearby, host plants. ![]() Indian paintbrush propagates via seed and division of the underground stem. Large, colorful bracts attract hummingbirds, main pollinators of these plants.įruit of Indian paintbrush is capsule filled with numerous seed. Indian paintbrush blooms from May to September. They surround small, tube-shaped, whitish green or yellow, "true" flowers, densely packed in the form of spike. Indian paintbrush produces large, three-lobed bright colored bracts (modified leaves) that can be red, yellow, orange, purple or pink colored. Upper leaves are divided in three lobes and covered with hairs. Indian paintbrush produces long, narrow, lanceolate, green leaves with smooth edges and pointed tips. Indian paintbrush develops erect, unbranched, hairy stem that can reach 12 to 20 inches (rarely 2 feet) in height. Cultivation of Indian paintbrush is difficult because these plants require hosts for the successful growth and development (they belong to the group of parasitic plants). ![]() Indian paintbrush grows in deserts, dry, sandy prairies, scrublands and woodlands. There are around 200 species of Indian paintbrush that originate from western parts of the North and South America and North Asia. Indian paintbrush, also known as prairie fire, is a genus of herbaceous plants that belong to the broomrape family.
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