Penstemon Superbus, Superb Penstemon

Penstemon superbus produces beautiful, coral-pink (less often red) flowers along the uppermost foot or more of the tall, rigid stems, which can exceed 5 feet in height. The remainder of the stems bear large, grey-green leaves at intervals of a few inches. The plant has fairly limited distribution in south Arizona and extreme southwest New Mexico. Flowers are tubular, opening out into five lobes, two pointing up and three angled generally down. One of the five stamens (the infertile staminode) is lightly hairy. Stems may be single or clustered, branching from the base.