Index / Search / Castilleja hispida

§1 Plant

Castilleja hispida Benth.

vernacular harsh Indian paintbrush — species · Scrophulariaceae


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
§2b

County-level range

· 78 counties across 6 states/territories
Legend Native · 78 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§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

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 78 counties across 6 states/territories.

California view state ↗ 2 N
Idaho view state ↗ 12 N
Montana view state ↗ 3 N
Nevada view state ↗ 1 N
Oregon view state ↗ 28 N
Washington view state ↗ 32 N

§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-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z