Castilleja exserta subsp. exserta

Erect annual to c. 40 cm high; stems often much-branched from base, ± reddish, hirsute. Leaves deeply pinnatifid or occasionally bipinnatifid, 1–5 cm long; lobes linear or filiform with scattered to dense clear triangular or septate hairs. Inflorescence a dense, broad, pale to deep purple spike; bracts 1–2 cm long, palmately divided into 5–7 filiform or narrowly-linear lobes, greenish at base, rose-purple at lobe tips; calyx 1–2 cm long, with 4 linear, equal lobes, coloured like bracts; corolla 12–30 mm long, mostly purplish or crimson, often whitish or yellowish at apex of lower lip with purple spots at base of small teeth, lower lip puberulent, beak of upper lip exceeding lower lip, 2–3 mm long, ± hooked at tip, densely bearded with crimson hairs. Capsule ovoid, 10–15 mm long; seeds ovoid to ellipsoid in a loose-fitting coat. In Victoria recorded flowering in November.