Wildflower (forb) · Scrophulariaceae
Scarlet Indian paintbrush
Castilleja coccinea
Scarlet Indian paintbrush is recorded as native to 27 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 509 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Scarlet Indian paintbrush at a glance
- Native in
- 509 counties, across 27 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −28°F
- Mature height
- 1.6 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −28°F; zone 4b winters bottom out at −25°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Scarlet Indian paintbrush is recorded as native to 27 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 509 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 509 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 5 counties
- Arkansas 18 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Florida 5 counties
- Georgia 5 counties
- Illinois 36 counties
- Indiana 17 counties
- Iowa 3 counties
- Kansas 6 counties
- Kentucky 9 counties
- Maryland 4 counties
- Michigan 44 counties
- Minnesota 50 counties
- Mississippi 4 counties
- Missouri 65 counties
- New Jersey 16 counties
- New York 24 counties
- North Carolina 32 counties
- Ohio 22 counties
- Oklahoma 17 counties
- Pennsylvania 24 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Carolina 2 counties
- Tennessee 10 counties
- Virginia 18 counties
- West Virginia 15 counties
- Wisconsin 55 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Annual
- Mature height
- 1.6 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 25 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium
- pH range
- 4.9 to 6.8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 8 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −28°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 75
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Red
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Scrophulariaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- CACO17
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Castilleja coccinea (PLANTS symbol CACO17).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources