painted cup

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. See Indian paintbrush.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A plant of the genus Castilleia, primarily C. coccinea, the scarlet painted-cup: so called from the highly colored dilated bracts about the flowers.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. (Bot.) any plant of an American genus of herbs (Castilleia) in which the bracts are usually bright-colored and more showy than the flowers. Castilleia coccinea has brilliantly scarlet bracts, and is common in meadows.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. any of various plants of the genus Castilleja having dense spikes of hooded flowers with brightly colored bracts