Flowers: Blooms late spring and early summer. Flower tubular and bilaterally symmetrical; glandular; to about 1-inch long. Floral tube pink to rosy-red with 5 lobes ("petals"). Upper lip with 2-lobes, lower lip with 3. "Petals" white to cream without streaks. Anther sacs spreading, opening lengthwise; staminode with many yellow hairs.
Seeds: Fruit: oblong capsule. Seeds: small, black.
Habitat: Dry, well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils on flats, in and along washes, on bajadas, and on moderate slopes in the lower mountains.
Elevation: About 3,000 to 5,000 feet.
Distribution: Southern California and southern Nevada.
Comments: This species hybridizes with Palmer's Penstemon, and in hybrids, the flower is large like Palmer's, but the color characteristics are those of Pinto. |