Pollinated by bees, hummingbirds, 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, discolor, comes from the Latin word discolor, which means "of another color".

Usually found in direct sun on bare rock - either in cracks in granite or in lenses of whitish volcanic ash - in openings in pine forests, pine-oak woodlands, and oak woodlands. 4300-7200’ elevation. Endemic to southeastern Arizona. Known from the Santa Catalina, Dragoon, Atascosa, Winchester, and Galiuro mountains.