Orobanchaceae Family | Beautiful Flower Pictures Blog

New Photo: Texas Wildflowers in the Wind

by hankinslawrenceimages | Apr 1, 2015 | Fabaceae Family, Flowers, Orobanchaceae Family, Texas, Wildflowers

Texas Wildflowers in the Wind © 2015 Patty Hankins

I’ve recently added a new photo – Texas Wildflowers in the Wind – to my BeautifulFlowerPictures.com website.

Texas Wildflowers in the Wind is the second wildflower photograph from my 2014 trip to Texas that is available as a matted print. It features two of the wildflowers I saw every day during the trip – Texas Bluebonnets and Texas Paintbrush. As I drove through east Texas, the roadsides were filled with large patches of bluebonnets and paintbrush. I loved seeing the combination of the purple and orange flowers.

One afternoon, the wind was blowing wildly. I tried photographing this wonderful field of flowers – but just couldn’t get my typical sharply focused image where I stopped all the motion. And then I realized that what had caught my eye was not just the flowers – but also they way they were moving in the wind. So I adjusted the settings on my camera to get as long of a shutter speed as I could manage in the mid-afternoon sun, and starting taking photographs. Finally I captured this image – which showed what I saw in the field – the wonderful Texas Wildflowers dancing in the wind.

Texas Wildflowers in the Wind is available as a matted print on my website.

Alpine Paintbrush – castilleja rhexifolia

by hankinslawrenceimages | Aug 15, 2014 | 2015 Wildflower Calendar, Flowers, Orobanchaceae Family, Wildflowers

Alpine Paintbrush (castilleja rhexifolia) is one of the wonderful wildflowers I photographed on my trips to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks a few years ago. I photographed this particular set of Alpine Paintbrush along the side of the road at Glacier National Park. As I was driving along Going to the Sun Road, I spotted a flash of red out of the corner of my eye. After pulling a quick U-turn – I pulled over and found a large patch of Alpine Paintbrush. What was really wonderful about this patch was that it was several yards in front of a group of shrubs full of green leaves. So that when I composed my photo I had a wonderful dark green background to set off the pink/red flowers.

Alpine Paintbrush (also known as Rosy Indian Paintbrush) is a summer-blooming member of the Broomrape family. Previously they were listed as a member of the Figwort family but recent research has placed them in the broomrape family. They can grow to a height of 16″ – these were at least 12″ tall. The spiky-looking flowers can be found in shades of reds and pinks.

Alpine Paintbrush is one of the wildflowers featured in my 2015 Wildflower Calendar. My calendar features photographs of twelve different wildflowers I’ve taken in recent years. Special early bird pricing is available on my 2015 Wildflower calendar until August 31, 2014.

Alpine Paintbrush – castilleja rhexifolia

by hankinslawrenceimages | May 6, 2013 | Flowers, Montana, Orobanchaceae Family, Photo Locations, Wildflowers, Wyoming

There are many varieties of paintbrush flowers growing in the Western United States. I always love seeing them and photographing them – the challenge is identifying which one is which!

From the descriptions I’ve read – I believe I photographed Alpine Paintbrush – castilleja rhexifolia – at both Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks. Of course – I very well may have misidentified them – since no two sources have similar photos for the same wildflower! So I apologize in advance if I’d misidentified which paintbrush these photos are of.

Alpine Paintbrush are summer-blooming perennial members of the Figwort Family (scrophulariacaea). They grow to between 4 and 16 inches tall – and have bright pink or reddish flowers. I’ve found them in meadows and in open areas along the sides of the roads in the parks.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my Alpine Paintbrush photos. Please feel free to share this post on social media.

New Photo: Texas Paintbrush

by hankinslawrenceimages | Jan 7, 2012 | Flowers, New Photos, Orobanchaceae Family, Wildflowers

I’ve recently added a new photo – Texas Paintbrush – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

I first photograph a member of the Paintbrush family of wildflowers several years ago on the Blue Ridge Parkway – I only found it once – and have never been able to identify what species it was. Since then I’ve photographed members of this family in several other locations – including Colorado and in Glacier National Park. This past May, I found some wonderful bright orange-red Texas Paintbrush (castilleja indivisa) north of Dallas. I love the colors and shapes of the various members of paintbrush family. I’m always on the lookout for ones I haven’t seen.

This photograph is available as either at 10 X 10″ or 20 X 20″ gallery-wrapped canvas. You can order Texas Paintbrush from my website.

Texas Paintbrush – Castilleja Indivisa

by hankinslawrenceimages | Sep 19, 2011 | Flowers, Orobanchaceae Family, Photo Locations, Texas, Wildflowers

When I was Texas earlier this year, I photographed several Texas Paintbrush (Castilleja Indivisa) plants. A member of the Scrophulariaceae (Figwort) family, they are related to the Orange Paintbrush I photographed in Colorado last summer.

Known also as Entire-leaf Indian Paintbrush or Scarlet Paintbrush, these showy wildflowers are native to Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. They are not listed as endangered or threatened any where in their native range.

Texas Paintbrush prefers to grow in sandy soils. It is commonly found in meadows, prairies and along open roadsides.

The flowers of the Indian Paintbrush are actually small, inconspicuous and green. They are surrounded by the bright red bracts. Together the flowers and bracts form a paintbrush shaped spike that gives the flowers their name.

Texas Paintbrush should be propagated from seeds gathered in the spring when the capsules are dry and brown. The seeds should then be planted the following fall. Transplanting mature Texas Paintbrush plants will kill them.

More information about Texas Paintbrush can be found online at

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

USDA Plant Profiles