General:
Perennial herb from a stout, scaly, somewhat woody stem-base; stems several, clustered, ascending to erect, 20-80 cm tall, simple or sometimes branched above, more or less smooth below, hairy above especially in the inflorescence.

Leaves:
Alternate, lance-linear to lanceolate, 3-10 cm long, entire, long-tapering to sharp-pointed tip, appressed-rough-hairy to nearly smooth.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a prominently bracted terminal spike, the bracts greenish yellow to bright yellow, sometimes tinged with orange, lanceolate to egg- or wedge-shaped, entire and rounded or the upper with 1 to 2 pairs of very short blunt lobes or teeth near the top, hairy; corollas greenish, 15-30 mm long, 2-lipped, the upper lip beak-like, minutely hairy, with yellowish membranous margins, 6-11 mm long, shorter than the tube and 3-4 times the length of the 3-toothed lower lip; calyces greenish to yellow, hairy, 15-23 mm long, 2-lobed to half their length, these primary lobes again divided into 2 blunt or rounded segments; stamens 4.

Fruits:
Capsules, 8-12 mm long; seeds many, the seed-coats loose, net-veined.

Notes:
Appears to hybridize frequently with Castilleja miniata.

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