Rocky Mountain Beardtongue
Penstemon strictus
Family: Plantaginaceae
Perennial plant growing to about 3’ tall when blooming, spreading 2-3’ wide. Summer blooming with purplish blue flowers.
Full to part sun. Though this penstemon tolerates heavy soils and moisture better than most members of the genus, it prefers dry, light, well-drained soils. Hardy to -30°F. This is one of the most trouble-free penstemons to grow. Cut back as necessary.
Photo by Katie Meis on iNaturalist
Penstemon strictus on SEINET
Pollinateed by bees and 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 is from Latin strictus "drawn together, close, tight," referring to the foliage.
Wooded slopes, open meadows, limestone ridges, ponderosa pine, spruce fir forests, 6500-8000 ft. in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming.