Cliff Paintbrush (Castilleja rupicola)

McCord Creek Falls, Columbia Gorge, OR, 4/2014.

This is one of the easier paintbrush varieties to identify, as it is shorter, and bushier than others, and due to the fact that it prefers moist, rocky, cliffs over meadows and grasslands.  Nearly all Castillejas are at least somewhat parasitic; feeding off the roots of other flowering plants.  We found this one next to some Columbia Kittentails on the wet and slightly scary  cliffs above McCord Creek Falls.

McCord Creek Falls, Columbia Gorge, OR, 4/2014.