YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK 



(red to white) (white) 



55 



INDIAN PAINTBRUSH 



BEDSTRAW 



Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja). The Indian 

 paintbrush is one of the most conspicuous and strik- 

 ing of the plants in the open, usually in dry, gravelly 

 or stony places. The plant is generally a foot or so 

 high, with a stout, stiff, unbranched stem bearing a 

 large number of narrow, pointed, somewhat hairy 

 leaves, and ending in a close cluster of blossoms. The 

 individual flowers are tubular, with deep, sharply 

 pointed lobes at the top; they are interspersed with 

 leaf-like structures of the same color as the flowers. 

 The plant is recognized, however, by the mass effect 

 of the whole group, ranging all the way from bright 

 scarlet to rich cream-white. 



Bedstraw (GaUum). Bedstraw is abundant in 

 shady, moist woods, occasionally venturing into partly 

 open places where there is plenty of moisture. The 

 stems are slender and smooth, averaging about two 

 feet tall. They have four sides, and the leaves, narrow 

 and rather blunt-ended, are arranged in groups of 

 four. The blossoms are borne in loosely pyramid- 

 shaped groups at the ends of the branches; they are 

 four-petaled, small, and pure white. Masses of the 

 plant frequently make patches of misty white in the 

 shade of the trees. 



