Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Perennial, erect to 50 cm tall, with puberulous herbage.

Leaves: Opposite, narrowly linear to narrowly lanceolate, often folded at the midrib (conduplicate), apiculate, 3-6 mm wide.

Flowers: Narrow inflorescence with few flowers, densely glandular-pubescent, calyx 5-6 mm long, lobes ovate to elliptic, sometimes narrowly scarious margined at the base; corolla red, 25-30 mm long, throat gradually and moderately expanded, lower lobes glabrous; staminode included.

Fruits: Septicidal capsule.

Ecology: Found in foothills of desert scrub, desert grasslands, chaparral, and the lower range of pi-on-juniper-oak woodlands from 5,000-6,000 ft (1524-1829 m); flowers June-August.

Notes: There appears to be lingering questions as to whether this species is indeed a separate species, P. ramosus. If it is separate as it was treated in 1966 by Crosswhite, then it is a narrow endemic species native to southeastern Arizona and New Mexico. Anderson et al. 2007 argue that it is not a distinct population, but instead found many species across its range back into Mexico. ITIS and Plants DB have not caught up with this information, they still refer to this species as P. ramosus.

Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in the genera have uses.

Etymology: Penstemon is from Greek pente, five and stemon, indicating the five stamens of the genus, while lanceolatus means lance shaped.

Synonyms: Penstemon ramosus, Penstemon pauciflorus

Editor: SBuckley, 2010