Glowing Paintbrush

Some of the bright red Indian Paintbrush that were growing at Bow Valley Provincial Park on 28 June 2013, seemed to glow. Or maybe it was simply that we had had so many dreary, rainy days for such a long time, that when we finally got a sunny day, everything seemed so much brighter. Sure felt good! Seven of us spent the day at the park, recording all flora and fauna that we saw. Bow Valley Provincial Park lies at the foot of the very first mountains when one drives westwards from Calgary. In other words, the park lies at the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. It's a very popular place with botanists, birders and photographers of any kind. We weren't sure just what we would find when we arrived, especially how much or little the area had been affected by the recent flooding in Alberta. Parts of the park were closed, so we didn't walk at Many Springs, but instead walked the Flowing Waters Trail (which was quite wet in places!) and around Middle Lake.

The actual flowers are the green parts, and the red are bracts. This native plant belongs to the Orobanchaceae family.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castilleja