Penstemon linarioides subsp. linarioides is found on dry hillsides and roadsides at middle elevation. The leaves are linear and the corollas are lilac. The leaves are crowded toward the base, becoming less so higher on the stems. The flowers are "secund," meaning they form mostly on only one side of the stem.

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

General: Stems erect or ascending to 50 cm tall, puberulous or glabrate.

Leaves: Opposite, linear, mucronate, about 2 mm wide, those at the base of the stem and on short sterile shoots crowded, the cauline ones scattered.

Flowers: Inflorescence narrow, secund, glandular; floral bracts small, subulate, calyx 4-7 mm long, lobes ovate, scarious margined; corolla purple to violet, 15-20 mm long, with deep purple guidelines, tube slender, throat 2-ridged and abruptly expanded on upper side, strongly bearded with yellowish hairs at the base of the lower lobes; staminode bearing bright yellow hairs along most of the length and in a tuft at the tip.

Fruits: Septicidal capsule.

Ecology: Found on dry slopes and flats from 4,500-7,500 ft (1372-2286 m); flowers June-August.

Notes: This species can be distinguished by its secund inflorescence, the narrow linear opposite leaves which are crowded at the base and less so as you move up the stem, and the distinctive yellow beard in the violet flower. There are several other subspecies in the region, particularly important is subsp. coloradoensis

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Penstemon is from Greek pente, five and stemon, indicating the five stamens of the genus, while linarioides means like the genus Linaria.

Synonyms: None

Editor: SBuckley, 2010