Species Identification

Interested in the identification of penstemons? Please select a species then click on submit:

Attribute	The current selection is Penstemon_strictus
Classification	Penstemon Habroanthus Glabri
General	Rocky Mountain Penstemon [syn: P. strictus ssp angustus] Probably the most common penstemon of the southern Rocky Mountains, it’s ‘strictly’ upright stems and brilliant purple flowers are seen in many habitats. Blooms: June to August.
Anther	1.7-2.4 mm long, opening to the outer ends ¾ the length, velvety to longhairs on the sides with long, tangled hairs exceeding the width of each cell, the opening edges nipple-toothed.
Staminode	Included, sparsely bearded to sometimes smooth; fertile stamens exserted.
Leaves	The basal and lower flowering stem 5-15 cm (2-6”) long, 5-16mm (about 5/8”) wide, entire, narrowly oblanceolate, rounded at tip, tapering to a stemmed base, the upper cauline ones 4-10 cm (1 ½’4”) long, linear, often folded, and stemless.
Stems	Perennial herb, 3.5-7 dm (14-30”) tall, stems ascending or erect, 1 to few arising from a thick crown; herbage smooth or sometimes with backward growing hairs at the base.
Inflorescense	Thyrse slender, of 4-10 verticillasters, the peduncles (leaf stems) leaning into stem, the cymes 1- to 2-flowered, smooth, flowers on one side.
Corolla	24-32 mm(1-1 ¼”) long, puffy, throat 2-ridged on base, deep blue with a whitish palate, often with a violet-tinged throat, red-violet lines inside the throat, the tube violet, smooth within and without, including the palate.
Flower Color
Calyx	3-5 mm long, the sepals ovate, rounded to obtuse, smooth, the marginsthinned, ragged.
Habitat	Often associated with sagebrush in pinyon-juniper woodland, oak scrub and openings of ponderosa pine and spruce-aspen forest, 2200-3200 m (7300-10,500').
Range	east Uinta Mts., Utah Plateaus and Canyon Lands NP, sections of UT to s WY, w CO, n NM and ne AZ.