The colors below indicate the kind of documentation available for this species
in the California counties where it occurs.
Indian Paintbrush Castilleja pruinosa (Scrophulariaceae)
This Indian Paintbrush is able to grow in serpentine soil. Serpentine soils are high in magnesium, low in calcium, and laden with metals like chromium and nickel which are needed by plants in trace amounts. Some plant species are narrowly restricted to one or a few neighboring outcrops of serpentine. In California alone, some 215 plant taxa are restricted wholly or in large part to serpentine soils. Most plant species are ill-equipped to survive the stressful chemical make-up of serpentine habitats. Thus this Paintbrush and other serpentine adapted plants have free reign there.
DISTRIBUTION: Dry open serpentine or forest edges from NW Calif. to the Cascade Ranges, Modoc Plateau, N & C Sierra Nevada, and San Gabriel Mts.; 500-2200 m.
