Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we give our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems.)
As a kid growing up in Colorado — hiking with my parents or taking field trips with middle-school science classes — I learned a lot of fun facts about the state’s flora and fauna and about the weather patterns that affect it.
I learned that ponderosa pines have long, soft needles and that the sap running down the sides of the trees smells like vanilla if you dare to get your nose close enough. I learned that indigenous people chewed on aspen leaves to help with headaches, that elk bugle in the fall, and that you shouldn’t hike on exposed ridges in the lightning-prone afternoons.
I also learned how to follow rock cairns, how to tell the difference between a chipmunk and a ground squirrel, and that you never pick wildflowers. Leave them for others to see.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t touch them. One of my favorite ways to get close to these flowers, aside from taking pictures, was to find a clump of , reach down and gently pull out one or two of the delicate corollas, which are shaped like tubes and have green tips and whitish sides. The bit inside the flower is the part that hummingbirds and bees — and humans — like, because it tastes like nectar or honey. It was always a tiny drop of a sweet treat on a long hike.
Of course, foraging shouldn’t be taken lightly, and there are plenty of warnings out there about how Indian paintbrush can be toxic if consumed in great quantities. So read those before you suck any nectar.
The red wildflower, which is often one of the first to bloom in early summer and one of the last to stop blooming in late summer, also has some of the most evocative names. While its Latin name is Castilleja, I grew up calling it Indian paintbrush, a name that comes with various forms of lore. As with many plants, animals, rivers and mountains that are named for Native Americans, however, this name can be interpreted by some as being derogatory. Something I am sensitive to.
So many people just call the flower paintbrush or red paintbrush or scarlet paintbrush. Other names include painted cup and prairie fire. Its many monikers aren’t surprising since the flower, and its many subspecies, can be found all over North America.
Columbines are our state flower, and they deserve to be. Rare and delicate, but also stunning and hearty, they are a favorite find during the summer months. But paintbrush will always be the one I look for when I need something sweet.
