Sonoran Beardtongue
Penstemon Stenophyllus
Family: Plantaginaceae
Perennial plant growing to about a foot and a half tall, about a foot wide. Fall blooming with purple to blue flowers.
Part sun, moderate water with good drainage, probably hardy to about 10°F. Cut back as necessary.
Photo by Patrick Alexander, SEINET
Penstemon stenophyllus on iNaturalist
Loved by hummingbirds. Larval host for the following butterflies and moths:
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 stenophyllus means narrow-leaved.
Found on light, dry soils, from 4,000-5,500 ft. from Arizona, south into northern Mexico.