The photo at right shows the upper leaf of yellow-haired paintbrush,
from the John Day River area of north-central Oregon.........May 24, 1998.
Yellow-haired paintbrush is a spreading to upright perennial to 20 cm in height, the stems usually unbranched with linear leaves at the base of the plant, and broader upper leaves having a pair of wide lobes diverging from below the middle of the leaf. The stems have a pubescence to them, and may be somewhat glandular.
Inflorescence colors range from a creamy-yellow to green or pinkish-brown. The bracts are shorter and wider than the leaves (See photo at right.) with one or two lateral lobes, and a rounded or blunt tip. The flowers are generally not hidden by the bracts. The calyx is 15-20 mm long, parted medially half its length, the lateral lobes 4-5 mm long and lanceolate in shape with acute tips. The corolla is 15-25 mm long, the galea 7-10 mm long with a small, green and thickened lower lip which is incurved. The greenish-yellow galea may have yellow or purple margins. Once viewed and keyed out, this paintbrush is a fairly easy member of this complex group to identify at later dates, especially because of its limited range.
Yellow-haired paintbrush grows on dry rocky sagebrush slopes to 2500 feet in elevation.
Yellow-haired paintbrush is found exclusively in the John Day River area of north-central Oregon.
