Penstemon incertus

Mojave beardtongue

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Mojave beardtongue is a California native shrub found in southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi, San Bernardino Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, and Mojave Desert in sandy washes, canyon slopes, and sagebrush and pinyon/juniper woodlands at elevations of 900 to 2,300 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces violet to purple flowers with blue limbs in a glandular inflorescence, with blossoms 23 to 32 millimeters long and throats 8 to 12 millimeters wide. Growing as a rounded shrub 20 to 100 centimeters tall with young glaucous stems, it has a distinctive growth habit with thick, linear to narrowly lanceolate leaves. Its largest leaves, found at mid-stem, measure 40 to 70 millimeters long and are generally rolled inward, entire in texture. The flower's staminode is densely hairy, adding a delicate texture to this striking desert plant.

Habitat: Generally sandy soil along washes, canyon slopes, in sagebrush scrub, Joshua-tree and pinyon/juniper woodland

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: 900-2300 m

Bioregions: s SNH, Teh, SnBr, PR, DMoj.

California counties: San Bernardino, Kern, Inyo, Tulare, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego

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