Plant Name

Scientific Name: Penstemon barbatus

Common Names: Beardlip Penstemon, Southwestern Penstemon, Golden-beard Penstemon

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Upland, Mountain. This showy wildflower is especially common along roadsides and in other open, sunny, disturbed areas.

Flower Color: Red

Flowering Season: Spring (late), Summer, Fall

Height: To 4 feet (1.2 m) tall

Description: The flowers are on one side of the tall, slender, leaning or upright flower stalks. The individual flowers are tubular, 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm) long, and have 2 forward-projecting upper lobes and 3 reflexed lower lobes with a golden haired, white-streaked base. The leaves are green, opposite, and narrowly linear in shape.

Special Characteristics

Hummingbird Flower – The nectar-filled flowers attract hummingbirds.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Scrophulariales
Family: Scrophulariaceae – Figwort family
Genus: Penstemon Schmidel – beardtongue
Species: Penstemon barbatus (Cav.) Roth – beardlip penstemon

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map
Time to Plant Penstemon Seeds! – The Firefly Forest