Penstemon whippleanus

Family: Plantaginaceae
Common Name: Whipple's penstemon
Symbol: PEWH
Description: Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Subshrub General: Perennial, 20-60 cm tall; stems several, erect or ascending; herbage glabrous below, becoming glandular- puberulent above; caudex woody, branched. Leaves: Basal and cauline, opposite, the basal blades lanceolate, ovate, or elliptic, mostly 4-9 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, the cauline blades narrowly lanceolate to oblanceolate, mostly 2.5-6 cm long, 3-15 mm wide, glabrous, margins entire or dentate; basal blades long-petiolate, cauline blades sessile and cordate-clasping. Flowers: Inflorescence narrow, secund, with few to several whorls of cymes, these 2-5 flowered; calyx 2-4 mm long, the lobes ovate to obovate, the apex acute to acuminate, margins usually membranous; corolla pale blue, pale or deep blue-violet, white, or sometimes pink-lavender, 15- 28 mm long, broadly expanded, strongly bilabiate, the upper lips projecting to spreading, the lower lips spreading to reflexed, white-bearded, the throat marked with purplish guidelines; staminode glabrous; flowers June-September. Fruits: Capsule, 6-9 mm long, glandular-puberulent at the apex; seeds 1-1.5 mm long. Ecology: Meadows, open slopes, subalpine, sometimes alpine; 2000- 3700 m (6500-12000 ft); Apache, Coconino, and Mohave counties; western to southwestern U.S