Common Red Paintbrush

These scarlet colored beauties (Castilleja miniata) are a very common wildflower in B.C. of which there are a great variety of colors among the genera ranging from an almost pure white and yellow to mauve and even a type of darker and deeper red than seen here. They are a perennial herb belonging to the Figwort family and grow in many places from low to high elevations, open woods and meadows to roadsides and gravelbars. Here they are seen in the alplands above the beautiful Jumbo Creek valley in the Purcells.