Flowers: Blooms late spring and early summer. Flower complex and bilaterally symmetrical; flower with 5 lobes, upper lip with 2-lobes, lower lip with 3, petals light pink with purple streaks.
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 3,500 to 7,500 feet.
Distribution: Southern California to southern Utah and Arizona.
Comments: if you sniff a Palmer's Penstemon flower, you should be able to smell fragrance. In our area, fragrance is unique to Palmer's Penstemon -- it's a definitive test. |