Owl's Clover (Castilleja exserta) Login         


        Description
  • EW Bloom
  • Owl's Clover is a kind of paintbrush.
  • Leaves are hairy, alternate, narrow, and sometimes forked.
  • Found on grassy hillsides near the coast.
  • This plant is a larval food for the federally threatened Bay Checkerspot Butterfly.
  • Compare to Dense Flowered Owl's Clover
  • CA native
  • AKA Purple Owl's Clover
  • Broomrape Family (Orobanchaceae)



Each flower has 3 white purple-spotted sacks and a narrow beak on top, creating an "owl's face".



Leaves are narrow. The whole plant is very hairy.



Found on grassy hillsides, it does well in serpentinite soils.

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