Plant Name

Scientific Name: Penstemon parryi

Common Names: Parry's Beardtongue, Parry's Penstemon

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert, Upland

Flower Color: Pink to lavender pink

Flowering Season: Spring

Height: To 40 inches (1 m) tall

Description: The tubular, 3/4 inch (1.9 cm) long flowers have a hairy lower "mouth", two upper lobes, and three, forward-projecting lower lobes. The leaves are bluish green, opposite, and ovate to narrowly lanceolate.

Both the plants and seeds are commercially available. This attractive spring wildflower does well in xeriscape gardens and is a good choice for a butterfly garden.

Special Characteristics

Butterfly Plant – The flowers attract butterflies like Pipevine Swallowtails (Battus philenor).

Hummingbird Flower – The tubular, 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 parryi (A. Gray) A. Gray – Parry's beardtongue

More About This Plant

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