WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

Erect, unbranched stems 6–20 inches tall have open arrays of showy, blue to violet or pink, tubular flowers. Note the nearly symmetrical petal-like flower lobes, staminode (beardtongue) densely covered with yellow hairs, and grayish-green, clasping leaves with a slight waxy-white coating.

FLOWERS: April–June. Clusters of 1–4 flowers on one side of stem on short stalks from leaf axils. Blooms 5/8–1-inch long (17–25 mm), with a gradually expanding tube and 5 spreading, rounded lobes, no glandular hairs on the outside; base of lower 3 lobes with white hairs, throat often with guidelines, sterile stamen (staminode) has a swollen tip and densely covered with golden hairs.

LEAVES: Basal rosette with stems (petioles); opposite stem leaves sessile, to 4-inches long (10 cm), grayish-green with a slight waxy coating. Stem blades smooth, thick, lance-shaped with pointed tip, and bases that clap the stem. No hairs on the leaves or stem.

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly soils; foothills scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands.

ELEVATION: 5,000–6,500 feet.

RANGE: CO, NM, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The leaves of James Penstemon, P. jamesii, widespread in central and eastern NM, aren’t thick and don’t have a waxy coating. Rocky Mountain Penstemon, P. strictus, has one-sided flower stems but the staminode (beardtongue) is white with no or only a few white hairs.

NM COUNTIES: Widespread in northern half of NM: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Grant, Harding, Lincoln, Los Alamos, McKinley, Ouay, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Taos, Union.