Yellow paintbrush is an upright, usually unbranched perennial from 20 to 50 cm in height. The herbage is not glandular, and ranges from minutely haired to soft, short, spreading hairs. The lower leaves are entire and linear-lanceolate in shape, while the upper leaves are broader with a pair of short lateral lobes (see bottom photo below). The leaves range from 2-3.5 cm long and are closely ascending to the stem. The yellow tipped bracts tend to be broader with a pair of short lateral lobes, although the lobes may sometimes be absent. The bracts may be glandular.
The inflorescence ranges from yellow to purplish, most commonly being the former color. The flowers largely extend beyond and aren't hidden by the bracts (see photo at right). The calyx is 15-25 mm long, the medial clefts parte about half way, the lateral lobes very short. The galea is about one-third the length of the tube with the lower lip about half as long as the galea.
Yellow paintbrush grows in subalpine and alpine meadows.
Yellow paintbrush is found in the Wallowa and Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon.
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