August 1, 2014
Giant Red Paintbrush, San Juan National Forest, Colorado, USA

This is one of the few macro images I made during my recent visit to the high country of Colorado for the wildflower bloom. It's a Giant Red Paintbrush, Scarlet Paintbrush, or Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata). Paintbrush are interesting plants because most of what we generally call the flower, the orange-tinted red of this species, is a collection of bracts, or specialized leaves. The flowers are almost hidden among the bracts, and are the yellow-green, red-edged tubular structures.