Penstemon heterophyllus var. heterophyllus

Foothill penstemon

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Foothill penstemon is a California native perennial found in northern and southern Coast Ranges, western Transverse Ranges in grassland, chaparral, and forest openings at elevations of 50 to 1,900 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces blue to purple flowers in distinctive clusters with delicate, trumpet-shaped blooms. Growing with slender stems 20 to 50 centimeters tall, it develops characteristic axillary leaf clusters at lower nodes. Its leaves are narrow and linear, ranging from 0.5 to 5 millimeters wide, with a distinctive glabrous surface that gives the plant a clean, elegant appearance. The plant often forms dense clumps in open, sunny areas of California's coastal landscapes.

Habitat: Grassland, chaparral, forest openings

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 50-1900 m

Bioregions: NCoR, SCoR, WTR.

California counties: San Luis Obispo, Riverside, Los Angeles, Monterey, Lake, Orange, San Diego, Santa Clara, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Merced, Colusa, Tehama, Butte, Glenn, Napa, Mendocino, Sonoma, Fresno, Humboldt, Ventura, Contra Costa, Alameda, Stanislaus, San Benito, Placer, El Dorado, Del Norte, Plumas, Trinity

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