Common names:
Front range beardtongue, blue mist penstemon
Family:
Scientific name:
Penstemon virens
Main flower color:
Range:
Colorado and Wyoming
Height:
Between 8 and 28 inches
Habitat:
Foothills, plains, montane, often in rocky locations
Leaves:
Spatulate, on stalks, with faint teeth or lobes along the edge
Season:
March to August
Penstemon virens is a medium height species, usually growing between 1 and 2 feet tall. The spatulate leaves are hairless, but the stems and the outside of the corolla have a covering of glandular hairs. A few longer hairs are found on the interior of the three-lobed lower lip (white), and at the end of the infertile stamen (golden-brown), the staminode. The other four stamens are pinkish purple, white at the base, and curved inwards. Flowers form at all angles around the stem. The five bracts at the base of the corolla are pointed, curved outwards, green with red edges, and also glandular.
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