The desert paintbrush is the queen of slickrotica.

"The desert paintbrush is the queen of slickrotica.  You can tell by its fiery scarlet and early bloom, as if it wants these curvaceous sweeps of sandstone to itself . . . Red is common among early bloomers, as if nature wished to jump-start spring, to skip the formalities and lunge into an unfeigned passion that dissolves reason or reluctance."

Ellen Meloy

Photo: Desert paintbrush glows in last light, Arches National Park, UT, April 21, 2012