Penstemon venustus

Venus penstemon

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Venus penstemon is a naturalized shrub found in southern Cascade Range highlands, specifically in southwestern Lassen County, growing in dry, rocky, exposed places at elevations of 900 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces lavender to purple flowers approximately 22 to 38 millimeters long with finely ciliate corolla lobes. Growing 30 to 80 centimeters tall with a spreading form, it has a generally glabrous or slightly short-hairy stem structure. Its stiff cauline leaves are lanceolate, sharply serrate, and reach up to 120 millimeters long at mid-stem, with distinctive white-hairy filaments and anther margins. The flower's staminode is also long white-hairy, adding to its unique visual character.

Habitat: Dry, rocky, exposed places

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 900-2200 m

Bioregions: s CaRH (sw Lassen Co.)

California counties: San Diego, Lassen, Napa

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