E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

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.