[Sidenote: =Blue Pentstemon, Beard-tongue=
_Pentstèmon cyanánthus_
=Blue
Spring, summer
Utah, Ariz., Wyo.=]
This is perhaps the most beautiful of all the Pentstemons, with several
smooth, stoutish, pale green, leafy stems, from one to two feet tall
and smooth, pale bluish-green leaves, with more or less "bloom,"
toothless and thickish, the upper ones somewhat clasping. The flowers
are not hairy or sticky, and are over an inch long, forming a handsome
cluster about eight inches long. The sepals are narrow and pointed, the
corolla is tinted with various beautiful shades of blue and purple,
often with a white throat and blue lobes, or with a pink throat and
deep blue lobes, the sterile filament has a thickened, more or less
hairy, yellow tip, and the pale yellow anthers are more or less hairy.
This plant is beautiful in every way, for the foliage is fine in form
and color and the flowers are brilliantly variegated, yet harmonious
and graceful. This grows on hillsides and in mountain valleys, at
rather high altitudes, and used to be common and conspicuous on the
"benches" around the Salt Lake Valley, but it is gradually being
exterminated by sheep. It thrives and improves when transplanted into
gardens. _P. acuminàtus_ is similar, but the cluster is looser and the
flowers often pink and purple. It forms fine patches of color at the
Grand Canyon.
[Sidenote: =Honeysuckle Pentstemon=
_Pentstèmon cordifòlius_
=Red
Summer
California=]
A handsome shrub, with much the general appearance of a Honeysuckle,
woody below, with long slender branches and pretty heart-shaped leaves.
The flowers are often in pairs and are each an inch and a half long,
with bright scarlet corollas, conspicuously two-lipped, the stamens
protruding, and form large clusters towards the ends of the branches.
This grows in light shade in the woods and trails its long branches and
garlands of bright flowers over the neighboring shrubs and trees.
[Sidenote: =Pride-of-the-mountain=
_Pentstèmon Newbérryi_
=Pink, lilac
Summer
California=]
A beautiful little shrub, making splendid patches of vivid color
on high bare rocks in the mountains, where it is very conspicuous,
hanging over the edges of inaccessible ledges. The stems are woody
below and very branching, about a foot high, and the leaves are usually
toothed, smooth, stiffish, and thickish. The flowers are an inch
and a quarter long, with a rather sticky calyx and bright carmine-pink
corolla, moderately two-lipped, with a patch of white hairs on the
lower lip; the stamens protruding, with conspicuous, white, woolly
anthers, and the style remaining on the tip of the capsule like a long
purple thread. This is slightly sweet-scented and is common around
Yosemite. The alpine form is less than four inches high, with larger,
lilac flowers and toothless leaves.
[Illustration: Penstemon cyananthus.]
[Illustration: Honeysuckle Penstemon--P. cordifolius.