Before I forget again, here are a couple of photos of some Indian paintbrush that I noticed along a trail at a high elevation on the first of October. They look much different than they do in the summer. I would hate to leave them out.
October 31, 2007
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Montana Outdoors 
interesting paintbrushes. I wonder if what we call indian paintbrushes are the same as what you have there…could just be the perspective.. Here is how we usually see them around here, in the early spring
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Comment by silken — October 31, 2007 @ 9:55 pm
Beautiful scenes! I wasn’t able to zero in on one to see it closely, but they look pretty much the same. I’ve never seen them here in that quantity or that type of terrain though. They may be close relatives with slightly different adaptations for the difference in climate, etc. Here they aren’t an early flower: it was the end of May when they first began to blossom.
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Comment by montucky — October 31, 2007 @ 10:17 pm
As you might recall, I’m somewhat color-blind. On leisurely drives through areas such as this, passengers are always commenting, “See the paintbrush? See the paintbrush?” Of course, even if I was standing still, and not trying to steer a weapon on wheels, I still couldn’t see it.
At least now, I’ll know what they are looking at.
Thanks.
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Comment by Pinhole — November 1, 2007 @ 7:41 am
I can understand how, for someone not sensitive to color, this one would be very difficult to detect as a flower because it doesn’t really have a distinct blossom. The color comes from bright colored bracts which surround the actual flower which is tiny.
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Comment by montucky — November 1, 2007 @ 9:06 am
Thank you for showing me what Indian Paintbrush really looks like. Massachusetts used to have Indian Paintbrush too but it has long ago disappeared from our landscape! I’ve never seen “the real thing!”
So sad!
Thanks again for the beautiful photos.
Janet
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Comment by Janet — November 1, 2007 @ 4:51 pm
Beautiful work Terry, I love the crimson color in these, very nice š
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Comment by Bernie Kasper — November 1, 2007 @ 7:35 pm
That’s really sad, Janet! This is another of the things that I’ve looked forward to seeing every summer since I was a kid. For some reason it has had a special appeal to me. I’m so pleased that you enjoyed the photos!
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Comment by montucky — November 1, 2007 @ 7:47 pm
The color in these is darker than the ones I saw during the summer, Bernie. I think maybe they were enjoying the cooler weather and a little more moisture.
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Comment by montucky — November 1, 2007 @ 7:49 pm
Indian paintbrush is one of my favorite flowers in the Montana Rockies. These are great close-ups.
Malcolm
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Comment by knightofswords — November 2, 2007 @ 9:42 am
One of my favorites too, Malcolm! They have a wild and kind of unruly look to them, not unlike the mountains themselves.
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Comment by montucky — November 2, 2007 @ 10:05 am
I was going to comment on that deep magenta as well… wow, that color is so thick! really very cool. Frozen flowers.. that is just wild.
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Comment by aullori — November 2, 2007 @ 11:49 am
Yes, they sure are different than they are earlier in the year, aren’t they?
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Comment by montucky — November 2, 2007 @ 5:54 pm
hi my name is montana
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Comment by Anonymous — March 14, 2008 @ 11:11 am