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Native Americans used flowers of Indian paintbrush as condiment. It was often used among various tribes of Native Americans, hence the name - Indian paintbrush. Upper part of Indian paintbrush resembles a brush covered with bright dyes. Indian paintbrush is able to absorb some of these alkaloids to protect itself also. Lupine produces alkaloids (type of bitter-tasting compounds) that repel herbivores. It often lives close to sagebrush and lupine. Indian paintbrush can parasitize on many plant species. Indian paintbrush can produce food via process of photosynthesis (like other green plants), but it thrives much better and survives even on the poor and dry soil when it "steals" water and nutrients from the roots of other plants. It uses specially designed tubes called haustoria (modified roots) for the absorption of water and nutrients from the roots of nearby, host plants. Indian paintbrush propagates via seed and division of the underground stem. Large, colorful bracts attract hummingbirds, main pollinators of these plants.įruit of Indian paintbrush is capsule filled with numerous seed.

Indian paintbrush blooms from May to September. They surround small, tube-shaped, whitish green or yellow, "true" flowers, densely packed in the form of spike. Indian paintbrush produces large, three-lobed bright colored bracts (modified leaves) that can be red, yellow, orange, purple or pink colored. Upper leaves are divided in three lobes and covered with hairs. Indian paintbrush produces long, narrow, lanceolate, green leaves with smooth edges and pointed tips. Indian paintbrush develops erect, unbranched, hairy stem that can reach 12 to 20 inches (rarely 2 feet) in height. Cultivation of Indian paintbrush is difficult because these plants require hosts for the successful growth and development (they belong to the group of parasitic plants). Indian paintbrush grows in deserts, dry, sandy prairies, scrublands and woodlands. There are around 200 species of Indian paintbrush that originate from western parts of the North and South America and North Asia. Indian paintbrush, also known as prairie fire, is a genus of herbaceous plants that belong to the broomrape family.