Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 315 



SCARLET PAINTED-CUP; INDIAN PAINT BRUSH 



(Castilleja cocci nea). This singular species is a par- 

 asite, that is it fastens its roots upon those of other 

 plants and takes their nourishment from them. Most 

 plants of this nature have pale flowers and foliage, as 

 instanced by Indian Pipe and Beech Drops, but the 

 Gerardias, Foxgloves and the present species rank as 

 among our most handsomely colored plants. This 

 simply goes to show that plants may be deceitful, and 

 that we can form no more idea of what goes on be- 

 neath the surface from their attractive appearance 

 than we can judge a man's nature by his face. 



The slender, hollow, reddish, angular and hairy 

 stem grows from a tuft of smooth-edged, oblong 

 leaves. The stem leaves are rather small and, the up- 

 per ones especially, have the ends three-lobed; those 

 near and surrounding the flowers have their ends 

 scarlet, as though they had been dipped in a pot of 

 red paint. The flowers' corolla is almost concealed 

 in the two-lobed cylindrical calyx, the end of which 

 is usually a brilliant scarlet. The corolla is irregular, 

 greenish yellow, with a narrow upper lip and a three- 

 lobed lower one. They have, set in the upper lip, four 

 unequal stamens and a long pistil. 



There is a great difference in the coloration of 

 Painted Cup, apparently depending upon the nature of 

 the soil and the light received. While most speci- 

 mens are marked with the brightest of scarlet, we 

 sometimes find it with yellow or even light green. 

 The Scarlet Painted-cup is found in low sandy ground 

 from Mass, to Manitoba and southwards. A paler 

 species, C. pallida, is found in moist, rocky situations 

 on hill or mountain sides from northern United States 

 nortlrwards. The stem leaves are usually entire, 

 without lobes and the upper part of the stem is quite 

 woolly. 



