Penstemon virens Pennell ex Rydb.

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Penstemon virens, commonly known as blue mist penstemon, Front Range penstemon, or Green beardtongue, is a common Penstemon in the Front Range foothills in Colorado and Wyoming. The dainty flowers are an ornament to many rocky or sandy area within its range. It is confusingly similar to Penstemon humilis and Penstemon albertinus though the ranges of these plants do not overlap in the wild. The origin of calling it the "blue mist penstemon" is not precisely known, but is thought to relate to the large number of blue flowers the plant can produce reminding observers of a blue mist.

Description

Penstemon virens has flowering stems are typically 10–40 cm in height and stand upright with very little curve. The stems are covered in extremely fine and short hairs that increase to being glandular and hairy closer to the buds and flowers, but are rarely almost or completely hairless.

Most of the leaves are at the base of the plant and relatively short, 2–10.2 cm long. These basal leaves are bright green, smooth, shiny, and have smooth or very finely toothed edges (denticulate margins). Though smooth, the leaves are not leathery or thick, and are oblanceolate to spatulate with a tapered base and 4–15 mm in width. The end of the leaves are mildly pointed, ranging from obtuse to acute. The leaves attached to the flowering stems are also hairless, have smooth leaf edges, lancelolate to slightly ovate in shape, and shorter than the basal leaves, 1.8–5 cm in length and 3–14 mm wide. The form of the plant is a low, spreading mat that enlarges each year, with leaves that persist over the winter in most locations.

The flowering stem is a thyrse, it grows without a genetically determined limit, but instead stops due to environmental conditions. It will typically have 3-6 clusters of flowers on the stem just above each leaf pair. Close examination will show that the flower clusters are actually paired groups on opposite sides of the stem (a verticillaster), but they will face in every direction. The flowers of Penstemon virens have five green, glandular-pubescent sepals at the base of the flower that are ovate to lanceolate, 2–4.5 mm long and 1.5-2.5 mm wide at the base. The edge of each sepal is edged with red. The flower is a tapered funnel 10–16 mm long and pale sky blue to light purple or violet. The flower divides into five rounded petals at its front and has purple-blue to reddish-purple nectar guides from the center of each petal leading down into the flower. The outside of the flower is glandular-pubescent and on the inside has moderate amount of fine white fuzz on the inside of the flower. The throat of the flower tube has an inside diameter of 3–5 mm, about 4–5 mm on the outside.

The lower lip and just inside the tube will have a few white longer hairs. The infertile fifth stamen, the staminode for which the genus is named, is a hairy golden-brown, and 8–10 mm long. It will almost reach the end of the flower tube. The four fertile stamens are paired above, curve inwards and upwards, and are purple to pink-white. The style is 8–11 mm long.

The seed capsules are small tear drop shapes about 5–7 mm long and 2–3 mm wide and are ripe towards the end of July or the beginning of August at lower elevations.

 

Penstemon virens - Wikipedia

Blue Mist Beardtongue, Penstemon virens | High Country Gardens

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