Penstemon anguineus

Siskiyou beardtongue

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Siskiyou beardtongue is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges and northern Coast Range highlands in open, logged conifer forest areas at elevations of 600 to 2,100 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces blue to purple-violet flowers with an abruptly expanded throat, 13 to 18 millimeters long and glandular on the outside. Growing with erect stems 20 to 90 centimeters tall, the plant is mostly glabrous except near the flower clusters. Its leaves are distinctively variable, with basal leaves lanceolate to narrowly ovate, middle stem leaves narrowly elliptic, and upper stem leaves 10 to 70 millimeters long, lanceolate to ovate and cordate-clasping. The flower's lower lip features a staminode with sparse hairs, adding to its distinctive appearance.

Habitat: Open, generally logged areas of +- conifer forest

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 600-2100 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH

California counties: Humboldt, Glenn, Tehama, Trinity, Siskiyou, Del Norte, Mendocino, Lake, El Dorado, Nevada, Tulare, Fresno

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.