It has a hairy stem, simple or branched near the base, where the leaves are essentially located towards the bottom of the plant. The leaves are alternate, mostly basal, 4–8 cm ( 1 + 5⁄ 8– 3 + 1⁄ 8 in) long, with edges smooth to coarsely toothed or lobed.

pulchella is hairy and upright, growing to 60 centimetres (24 inches) tall. 'Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Final Rule to Determine Endangered or Threatened Status for Six Plants from the Mountains of Southern California.' Federal Register 63 (177): 49006-49022.Gaillardia pulchella ( firewheel, Indian blanket, Indian blanketflower, or sundance) is a North American species of short-lived perennial or annual flowering plants in the sunflower family. Fish and Wildlife Service Carlsbad Field Office 2730 Loker Avenue West Carlsbad, California 92008 Telephone: (760) 431-9440 Fax: (760) 431-9624 Reference Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Office, Division of Endangered Species Eastside Federal Complex 911 N. The populations of the ash-gray Indian paintbrush should be monitored, and research undertaken into its biology and habitat needs. This could be done by acquiring the land and establishing an ecological reserve, or by negotiating conservation easements. Consideration should also be made for protecting the critical habitat on private land. This can be done by ensuring that these threatening activities are not permitted by the Management Plan for the Forest Service lands, or under the terms of residential and commercial leasing agreements. The critical habitat on land administered by the Forest Service must be protected from threatening activities, such as intensive recreation use by off-road vehicles on the pebble plains, and timber harvesting in pine forest containing the rare paintbrush.

About 514 acres (208 hectares) are administered by the Forest Service, while 32 acres (13 hectares) are on private land. Only nine complexes of this habitat survive, totaling about 545 acres (220 hectares). The most important action needed to conserve the ash-gray Indian paintbrush is to protect the remnants of its pebble plains habitat. These activities have been particularly destructive of the pebble plains habitat of the paintbrush. These activities include urbanization, timber harvesting, off-road vehicle activity, alteration of hydrological conditions, and vandalism. This species is imperiled by a variety of activities that result in habitat modification, destruction, degradation, and fragmentation. Ash-gray Indian paintbrush is known to occur on private lands, California Department of Fish and Game land, and Forest Service land including that leased for vacation homes and a ski area. Most populations occur on pebble plains, but ash-gray Indian paintbrush is also found in the Snow Valley Ski Area, along Sugarloaf Ridge, and in the vicinity of Lost Creek. DistributionĪsh-gray Indian paintbrush is known from fewer than 20 localities at the eastern end of the San Bernardino Mountains, California. Most populations occur on pebble plains, but ash-gray Indian paintbrush is also found in pine forest habitats. Ash-gray Indian paintbrush is distinguished from other species of Castilleja within its range by its perennial nature, ashy-puberulent (short hairs) stems and leaves, yellowish flowers, and calyx lobes of equal length. The calyx (united sepals) is nearly equally divided into linear lobes, and the corolla is yellowish. The inflorescence (flower stalk) is greenish yellow (occasionally reddish-orange tinged) with distinctive yellowish hairs on the lower bracts. Habitat destruction and degradation by urbanization, trampling by off-road vehicles, changes in hydrology, and vandalism.Īsh-gray Indian paintbrush, Castilleja cinerea, a member of the snapdragon family (Scrophulariaceae), is a semiparasitic perennial with several, ascending to decumbent (trailing), grayish stems sprouting from the root-crown. Pebble plains, and to a lesser degree in pine forest

Indian paintbrush flower facts