August 1, 2014 Giant Red Paintbrush, San Juan National Forest, Colorado, USA
Giant Red Paintbrush
San Juan National Forest, Colorado, USA
Canon EOS 1D X, 180 Macro, 1/30 sec, f4, ISO 100
Image taken on July 14, 2014.
This is one of the few macro images I made during my recent visit to the high country of Colorado for the wildflower bloom. It's a Giant Red Paintbrush, Scarlet Paintbrush, or Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata). Paintbrush are interesting plants because most of what we generally call the flower, the orange-tinted red of this species, is a collection of bracts, or specialized leaves. The flowers are almost hidden among the bracts, and are the yellow-green, red-edged tubular structures.
