Bright red-purple flowers with four petals, in a long spire on a tall stem. Only a few flowers bloom at a time, beginning at the bottom of the raceme and progressing upwards. Long, lance-shaped, alternate. Its common name is derived from its ability to rapidly colonize recently burned areas after a forest fire, not its reddish color. Stamens are fused into a dark snout.
Several flowers hang from the top of a straight leafless stalk.
Roundish leaves in a basal rosette. Foothills to Subalpine Grows in moist areas, near streams and seeps. Five ivory sepals form a saucer-shaped flower, with many yellow stamens and a few central green pistils. Deeply palmately divided into 5-7 lobes with many teeth. Subalpine and Alpine Locally abundant in moist meadows and marshy areas, usually in clumps.