The gumnuts are small, 0.5 by 0.6 cm, with usually three exserted valves (sharp wooden points emerging out of the top of the gumnut).

P. exserta has a bright red corolla with distinctive exserted stamens and stigma, the latter which are typically associated with hummingbird pollination.

The female cones are from 10-18 cm (4-7 inches) long, larger and with thicker scales than those of other douglas-firs, and with exserted tridentine bracts.

USDA Plants Profile: Castilleja exserta (exserted Indian paintbrush)

Castilleja exserta is known by a handful of common names: Exserted Indian paintbrush, sometimes Red owl's clover, or Purple Indian paintbrush.

The shell of Haliotis cracherodii cracherodii is also unusual: it has an ovate form, it is imperforate, shows an exserted spire, and has prickly ribs.

The cones are 10-16 cm long and 4 cm broad, with about 150 scales, each scale with an exserted bract and two winged seeds; they disintegrate when mature to release the seeds.

It is distinguished from Tsuga by the larger, erect cones with exserted bracts, and (like Keteleeria) male cones in umbels, and from Keteleeria by the shorter leaves and smaller cones.

The cones are erect, ovoid-conic, 4-7.5 cm long, with 50-100 seed scales, each seed scale with a long exserted and reflexed basal bract; they are dark purple when immature, turning dark brown and opening to release the seeds when mature, 5-7 months after pollination.

Those native to northern regions have small cones (1-3 cm) with short bracts, with more southerly species tending to have longer cones (3-9 cm), often with exserted bracts, with the longest cones and bracts produced by the southernmost species, in the Himalayas.