Harsh paintbrush is a clumping wildflower of grassy slopes and forest openings, named for the rough hairs that cover its stems and leaves. What looks like a red flower head is mostly bracts, leafy structures that are greenish or dull purple near the base and turn scarlet, orange or sometimes yellow toward the tips. The true flowers are slender greenish tubes tucked between the bracts, each with a tiny, thickened, dark green lower lip.
Several stems rise together from a woody base. The flower spikes start out short and broad, then stretch longer as the season goes on, so the same plant can look quite different from one visit to the next. Bumblebees, other bees and hummingbirds visit the flowers.
Color varies from plant to plant. Many are bright scarlet, some show yellowish bands, and a few are mostly yellow. With that much variation, and other paintbrushes in the same mountains, the leaves are a better guide than color: harsh paintbrush’s upper leaves usually carry one or two pairs of narrow side lobes.
You are most likely to notice it from spring into summer in sunny meadows, grassy slopes and open forest, from low elevations up into the mountains.
How to identify it
A clump of unbranched stems 8 to 24 inches tall, covered with soft to stiff hairs. Lower leaves are small and undivided, while upper leaves usually have one or two pairs of narrow side lobes. Broad bracts with three to five lobes are red, orange or yellow at the tips and surround greenish tubular flowers about 1 to 1.5 inches long with a small, thick, dark green lower lip.
Look-alikes
Scarlet paintbrush, also found in mountain meadows, has narrow leaves that are mostly unlobed or carry only a few small lobes. Harsh paintbrush's upper leaves usually have one or two pairs of narrow side lobes, and the whole plant is noticeably hairy.
Habitat
Grassy slopes, meadows, forest openings and open forest, from low elevations to moderate heights in the mountains, on both sides of the Cascades.
Sightings in the forest
398 research-grade sightings in Mt. Hood National Forest on iNaturalist, most recently on August 19, 2026. See them on iNaturalist →