WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

Green to purplish stems to 16–24+ inches tall have a one-sided bloom with clusters of two scarlet, tubular flowers. Note the yellow hairs barely exposed in the narrow opening of the flower.

FLOWER: May–June. Pairs of flowers along one side of stem. Flowers tubular, slighted inflated, 7/8–1 1/4-inches long (22–30 mm); opening constricted like a purse with a drawstring partially closed; opening with two lips with short lobes; upper lip projects forward, lower lip spreading to folding  backward and densely bearded with yellow hairs.

LEAVES: Basal rosette, stem leaves opposite. Blades to 4 3/4-inches long (12 cm) and 5-inches wide (50 mm). Upper stem leaves heart-shaped to broadly lance-shaped, sessile (stemless), but not wrapping around the stem, margins entire (smooth). Subsp. cardinalis has thin, lance-shaped to oval leaves; subsp. regalis leaves are thick, heart-shaped to oval.

HABITAT: Rocky soils, chaparral, slopes, canyons: pinyon-juniper-oak, ponderosa, spruce-fir forests.

ELEVATION: 4,400–8,200 feet.

RANGE: NM, TX

SIMILAR SPECIES: NM has 8 scarlet penstemons, most rare or with limited distribution in NM. Scarlet Bugler or Red Penstemon, P. barbatus, widespread in NM mountains., has lower lobes that bend sharply backwards exposing the stamens; Beak-flowered Penstemon, P. rostrilforus, in the western mountains, has horseshoe-shaped, yellow anthers. Firecracker Penstemon, P. eatonii,  in the Four Corners, has a tubular flower with rounded, nearly equal lobes, no beardtongue, and no waxy covering on triangular leaves. Alamo Penstemon, P. alamosensis, rare in se mountains, has flared, almost equal rounded lobes and a hairless staminode. Superb Penstemon, P. superbus, rare in sw mountains, has dense whorls of hairy, symmetrical flowers with golden-hairy staminodes. The pink to red Perfoliate Penstemon, P. pseduspectabilis, in the sw mountains, has upper leaves joined around the stem and symmetrical, rounded flower lobes.

NM COUNTIES: In mountains of southern NM in low- to mid-elevation, dry habitats; subsp. cardinalis endemic to the Sacramento, Oscuro, and Capitan mts., subsp. regalis endemic to the Guadalupe Mts.: Eddy, Lincoln, Otero.