One of the popular paintbrushes, this showy annual or biennial grows 6-18 in. high. Its several unbranched stems form clumps topped by bright-red, paintbrush-like spikes. The flowers are less conspicuous than the bracts and greenish at the base, they are subtended by showy, typically red-tipped bracts. They sometimes produce a light yellow or pure white variation mixed in with the reds. Together, the flowers and bracts form 3-8 in. spikes. This and other Castilleja species are hemiparasitic, especially on grasses, penetrating these “host” roots to obtain a portion of their nutrients. Transplanting paintbrush may kill it. Indian paintbrush has a reputation for being unpredictable. In some years, when bluebonnets (which flower at approximately the same time as Indian paintbrush) are especially colorful, paintbrush will have only an average flowering year. Other years, paintbrush is spectacular.