General:
Perennial herb from a somewhat woody stem-base; stems several, clustered, erect or ascending, 10-30 (50) cm tall, unbranched, nearly smooth to thinly long-soft-hairy.

Leaves:
Alternate, lanceolate, 1.5-5 cm long, nearly smooth to sparsely soft-hairy, all except the lowermost cleft into 3 to 5 lateral lobes, the lobes usually much narrower than the mid-blade.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a prominently bracted terminal spike, the bracts rose-pink, magenta, crimson or sometimes whitish, lanceolate to egg-shaped, 3- to 5-lobed, long-soft-hairy, about as long as the flowers; corollas greenish, 12-25 mm long, 2-lipped, the upper lip beak-like, minutely hairy, 3-7 mm long, about as long as the tube and 3 or more times as long as the thickened, 3-toothed, lower lip; calyces 10-20 mm long, 2-lobed, these primary lobes again divided into 2 segments 3-6 mm long, coloured like the bracts; stamens 4.

Fruits:
Capsules, egg-shaped, smooth, 8-11 mm long; seeds many, the seed-coats loose and 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 parviflora var. albida (Pennell) Ownbey
Castilleja parviflora var. olympica (G.N. Jones) Ownbey