Penstemon rydbergii var. oreocharis

Herbaceous penstemon

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Herbaceous penstemon is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, and Great Basin in moist meadows and streambanks within montane to subalpine forests at elevations of 1,000 to 3,600 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces blue to purple flowers 9 to 14 millimeters long with a white to yellow-hairy flower floor. Growing 20 to 60 centimeters tall with few-branched stems that are generally glabrous, it develops a stem base above ground. Its leaves range from oblanceolate basal forms to lanceolate upper cauline leaves, with entire margins measuring 25 to 70 millimeters long. The distinctive golden-yellow-hairy staminode provides a striking contrast to the blue to purple flower petals.

Habitat: Moist meadows, streambanks, generally in montane to subalpine forests

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 1000-3600 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaR, SNH, GB

California counties: Alpine, Amador, Lassen, Mono, Inyo, Siskiyou, Placer, Modoc, Tuolumne, Shasta, Mariposa, Fresno, Butte, Sierra, El Dorado, Nevada, Tehama, Plumas, Glenn, Madera, Tulare, Calaveras, Mendocino, Trinity

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