Alpine Paintbrush © 2013 Patty Hankins
Alpine Paintbrush (castilleja rhexifolia) is one of the wonderful wildflowers I photographed on my trips to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks a few years ago. I photographed this particular set of Alpine Paintbrush along the side of the road at Glacier National Park. As I was driving along Going to the Sun Road, I spotted a flash of red out of the corner of my eye. After pulling a quick U-turn – I pulled over and found a large patch of Alpine Paintbrush. What was really wonderful about this patch was that it was several yards in front of a group of shrubs full of green leaves. So that when I composed my photo I had a wonderful dark green background to set off the pink/red flowers.
Alpine Paintbrush (also known as Rosy Indian Paintbrush) is a summer-blooming member of the Broomrape family. Previously they were listed as a member of the Figwort family but recent research has placed them in the broomrape family. They can grow to a height of 16″ – these were at least 12″ tall. The spiky-looking flowers can be found in shades of reds and pinks.
Alpine Paintbrush is one of the wildflowers featured in my 2015 Wildflower Calendar. My calendar features photographs of twelve different wildflowers I’ve taken in recent years. Special early bird pricing is available on my 2015 Wildflower calendar until August 31, 2014.