Castilleja rubicundula
# Castilleja rubicundula

Castilleja rubicundula is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name cream sacs. It is native to northern California and southwestern Oregon. It is found in coastal and inland grasslands.

## Description

Castilleja rubicundula is a hairy, glandular annual growing to about half a meter in height, the stem leafy with lance-shaped foliage.

It produces a terminal inflorescence and sometimes branches off several more inflorescences. The white, pink, yellow, or bicolored flowers are divided into usually three pouches, making them look inflated. Each pouch is about a centimeter wide and half a centimeter deep. Each flower has a beak extending about half a centimeter above the pouches.

The fruit is a capsule containing tiny seeds less than a millimeter long. Under magnification the seed's honeycomb-patterned coat is visible.

### Subspecies

Subspecies and varieties include:

* Castilleja rubicundula ssp. lithospermoides
* Castilleja rubicundula ssp. rubicundula — endemic to the Sacramento Valley, California.
* Castilleja rubicundula var. rubicundula

## Distribution and habitat

This annual wildflower is native to northern California, and into southwestern Oregon. It lives on coastal and inland grasslands.

