General:
Annual herb from a taproot; stems decumbent to ascending, 10-35 cm long/tall, simple or often branched, minutely to coarsely spreading-hairy.

Leaves:
Alternate, unstalked, lanceolate to oblong or egg-shaped, 1-5 cm long, entire below, pinnately 3- to 5-toothed or -lobed above, rough-short-hairy.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a dense, compact, prominently bracted, terminal spike 3-12 cm long, the bracts greenish tipped with white, yellow or pink, 14-22 mm long, oblong to egg-shaped, differing gradually from the leaves, becoming palmately cleft into 2 to 8, short, blunt or rounded lobes; corollas yellow with purple markings, 14-25 mm long, exceeding the bracts and calyces, tubular, club-shaped, 2-lipped, the upper lip beak-like, minutely hairy, straight, 4-5 mm long, the lower lip 3-4 mm long, somewhat inflated, 3-pouched, tipped with 3 erect, slender, purple teeth 1-3 mm long; calyces tubular, long-hairy, 12-20 mm long, 2-cleft, each segment 2-lobed, the lobes linear, shorter than the tube, coloured like the tips of the bracts; stamens 4.

Fruits:
Capsules, ellipsoid, 8-12 mm long; seeds several, 1-2 mm long, with tight-fitting netted coats.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Castilleja ambigua Hook. & Arn.