General:
Annual herb from a short taproot or small branched root system; stems erect, 30-80 cm tall, usually single and unbranched, sometimes branched above, glandular-hairy.

Leaves:
Alternate, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 3-8 cm long, long-tapering to a sharp tip, entire, glandular-hairy.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a prominently bracted terminal spike, narrow and elongate, the flowers spaced apart, the bracts leaflike, the upper ones red- or scarlet-tipped, lanceolate, entire, glandular, much longer than the flowers; corollas yellowish, 15-25 mm long, 2-lipped, the upper lip short and blunt, short-hairy, 5-7 mm long, shorter than the tube, 4-5 times as long as the much-reduced lower lip, the lower lip 1-3 mm long, the teeth obsolete; calyces green, hairy, 15-20 mm long, deeply 2-lobed, these primary lobes again divided into 2 linear, sharp segments 1-3 mm long; stamens 4.

Fruits:
Capsules, 10-18 mm long; seeds many, the seed-coats loose, net-veined.

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 minor (A. Gray) A. Gray