Penstemon purpusii

Snow mountain beardtongue, Snow Mountain Beardtongue

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Snow mountain beardtongue is a California native shrub found in western Klamath Ranges and northern Coast Ranges at elevations of 800 to 2,500 meters on rocky ridges, peaks, and open slopes in montane forest. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces blue-violet flowers 27 to 31 millimeters long with a glandular exterior. Growing as a subshrub 5 to 20 centimeters tall with woody branches near the base, it has a densely hairy appearance. Its cauline leaves are 10 to 30 millimeters long, approximately lanceolate, often folded lengthwise and weakly serrate. The plant features distinctive glandular flowers with blue-violet corollas and a glabrous flower floor.

Habitat: Rocky ridges, peaks, open slopes in montane forest

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 800-2500 m

Bioregions: w KR, NCoRH.

California counties: Lake, Humboldt, Tehama, Trinity, Mendocino, Glenn, Siskiyou, Shasta, Colusa

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