Fish and Wildlife Service issued a rule removing golden paintbrush from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Plants[7] Castilleja levisecta (golden paintbrush) was first collected as a modern botanical specimen near Mill Plain, Washington, by Thomas Jefferson Howell in 1880 and was described by Jesse More Greenman in 1898 (Greenman 1898).

The leaves are green, containing chlorophyll to undergo photosynthesis, but like other Castilleja it is a hemiparasite, capable of tapping the roots of other plants via haustorial connections to obtain nutrients and water.

[8] It is known to hybridize and produce viable seed with Castilleja hispida (harsh paintbrush) in laboratory and experimental grassland settings.

[9][10] Golden paintbrush grows in prairie habitat at low elevations, generally in soils of gravelly, glacier-carved sediment.

[5] The species is diploid and has very high genetic diversity for a rare plant, a condition that makes it less likely to experience rapid extinction.

[13][14] The grassland habitats in which golden paintbrush grows have traditionally undergone periodic wildfires, and the golden paintbrush appears to thrive in this fire regime, possibly because fires clear out taller vegetation that would otherwise compete with it, or provide it nutrients in the ash.

[3] Plants experience herbivory by wild animals, trampling by hikers, and losses when they are picked by wildflower enthusiasts.