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Home / Browse / Castilleja / Denseflower Indian Paintbrush (subsp. densiflora)
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Pictured: Castilleja densiflora — the species. This subspecies isn’t separately illustrated.
Scrophulariaceae family

Denseflower Indian Paintbrush (subsp. densiflora) Castilleja densiflora subsp. densiflora subspecies

Native

Denseflower Indian Paintbrush (subsp. densiflora) is an annual wildflower native to the lower 48 states.

More about this plant

Castilleja densiflora is a herbaceous flowering plant species known by the common names denseflower Indian paintbrush or white / denseflower owlclover. Like other members of the Indian paintbrushes, it is a root-parasite. It is native to California and northern Baja California, where it grows in grassland and chaparral habitat. It is a variable species. It is generally 10 to 40 centimeters tall with linear or lance-shaped leaves up to 8 centimeters long, and with or without lobes. The inflorescence is as small as 3 centimeters or as long as 25 centimeters in length, and has bracts tipped in white to dull or bright pink or purple. Between the bracts appear the flowers, which are somewhat rounded and pouched, and white to yellow to pink or purple in color. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 11 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Annual
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~5 caterpillar species

Castilleja supports ~5 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a modest genus.

Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (11) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[08] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[09] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[10] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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