Penstemon Gracilentus, Slender Penstemon
Plants > Wildflowers > Plantaginaceae > Penstemon Gracilentus
Common names:
Slender penstemon, slender beardtongue
Family:
Scientific name:
Penstemon gracilentus
Main flower color:
Range:
North California, south Oregon and northwest Nevada
Height:
Up to 2 feet
Habitat:
Woodland, sagebrush; up to 9,000 feet
Leaves:
Narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate to linear, up to 4 inches long, with entire edges
Season:
June to August
Distinguishing features of penstemon gracilentus include the hairy staminode (infertile stamen), the hairless and unlobed leaves, and the lower lip of the corolla, which is not curved backwards. Stems are also hairless, and become woody with age. Leaves are concentrated along the stems rather than at the base, in opposite pairs.
Unlike the stems and leaves, the flowers and their stalks are glandular, covered by short sticky, hairs. Flowers consist of a short, purplish-green calyx, opening to five lance-shaped lobes, and a tubular, blue-purple corolla, a little less than one inch long. Corolla lobes are much shorter than the tube, and all open by about the same amount, less than 90 degrees. The staminode has a covering of yellow hairs.
Unlike the stems and leaves, the flowers and their stalks are glandular, covered by short sticky, hairs. Flowers consist of a short, purplish-green calyx, opening to five lance-shaped lobes, and a tubular, blue-purple corolla, a little less than one inch long. Corolla lobes are much shorter than the tube, and all open by about the same amount, less than 90 degrees. The staminode has a covering of yellow hairs.
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