Family: Plantaginaceae

Perennial plant growing usually a little over a foot tall and wide, and mostly evergreen, though plants need to be cut back occasionally. Purple flowers spring into summer.

Full to part sun, moderate water with good drainage, hardy to -30°F. Cut back as needed.

Pollinated by bees and nectar seeking insects. Larval hosts for many moths and butterflies including the following:

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)

Dark Buckeye (Junonia nigrosuffusa)

Anicia checkerspot (Euphydryas anicia ssp. hermosa)

Arachne Checkerspot (Poladryas arachne)

Variable Checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona)

owlet moths (family Noctuidae)

geometrid moths (family Geometridae)

hummingbird clearwing moth (Hemaris thysbe)

Many sources mistakenly translate the Latin name Penstemon as meaning “five stamens”, but this is incorrect. The “pen” in Penstemon doesn’t come from penta (five) but from the Latin paene meaning “nearly” or “almost”, while stemon is derived from Greek for “thread”. “Nearly a thread” is a reference to the staminode, which is almost a functional stamen. The species name dasyphyllus means shaggy-leaved.

Penstemon barbatus on iNaturalist
Photo by Max Licher, SEINET