Index / Search / Castilleja hispida

§1 Plant — species · Scrophulariaceae

Castilleja hispida Benth.

vernacular harsh Indian paintbrush


USDA
CAHI9
GBIF
3170620
Rank
species
harsh Indian paintbrush (Castilleja hispida)
Platephotograph · John G. PhillipsCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb, Subshrub
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Scrophulariaceae Juss.
Genus
Castilleja
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
High
Shade
High
Moisture use
Low
Fire
Low
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
Low
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-22 °F minimum
Frost-free days
136 min.
Precipitation
10–19 in/yr
pH range
6–8
Root depth
6 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
1.5 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Yellow-Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Red
Fruit colour
Black
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Rapid
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
350,000
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
High
Graze palatability
High
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 3 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CAHI9 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3170620 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z