Purple Owl's Clover, Castilleja exserta ssp. exserta Family Broom-rape (Orobanchaceae) Height 4-18 in. Color Purple with white tips Flowers Dense brush like dome topped cylinders of white tipped pink flowers Blooms March - May Leaves Spiky on lower portion of "paintbrush" Habitat Grassland, chaparral     Not actually a clover but is, rather, related to Indian Paintbrush. Owl's Clover and Butter-and-eggs, Triphysaria eriantha, are hemiparasites; they extract nutrients from the roots of nearby plants. Purple Owl's Clover is a crucial host plant for the threatened Bay Checkerspot Butterfly. Owl's Clover is in the same family as and is closely related to both Butter-and-eggs and Cream Sacs, Castilleja rubicundula. There is a close resemblence. They are also related to the more familiar Indian Paintbrush, also Castilleja spp. and the more dramatic and less common Indian Warrior, Pedicularis densiflora. caption: file: x - square 0" x 0" at 300 dpi - release: contact us regarding image add image to lightbox References Wildflowers of Norther California's Wine Country & North Coast Ranges. Cloverdale, CA: New Creek Ranch Press, 2007. Mount Diablo Wildflowers. Walnut Creek, CA: Mt. Diablo Interpretive Association, 2005. Beidleman, Linda H., and Eugene N. Kozloff. Plants of the San Francisco Bay Region: Mendocino to Monterey. Berekeley, CA: University of California, 2003. http://www.calflora.org/