Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

COBAEA PENSTEMON

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Penstemon cobaea Nutt.

Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 6-40 inches

Family: Scrophulariaceae - Figwort Family

Flowering Period: May, June

Also Called:

Cobaea beardtongue.

Stems:

Erect, 1-4, stout, unbranched, pubescent, arising from large rootstocks.

Leaves:

Basal leaves stalked, spatulate, frequently absent or withered; stem leaves opposite, simple, sessile or clasping, thick, lanceolate to ovate, 1.5 to 6 inches long, 1/2 to 2 inches wide, glabrous or minutely hairy; margins weakly to sharply toothed.

Inflorescences:

Panicles, elongate, 4 to 20 inches long, with 3-8 distinct whorl-like clusters of 2-6 flowers.

Flowers:

Calyces 5-lobed, glandular-pubescent, sticky; corollas showy, 1.5 to 2 inches long, pale-purple, white or pinkish, strongly 2-lipped, upper lip 2-lobed, lower lip 3-lobed, lobes rounded, glabrous inside, finely pubescent outside; throat with prominent magenta or violet lines; stamens 5; 4 fertile; 1 sterile, flat-tipped, curving backward, bearded with golden-yellow hairs.

Fruits:

Capsules, egg-shaped, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, woody; seeds small, numerous, black.

Habitat:

Dry, rocky open prairies, eroded pastures, and hillsides, on limestone, sandy loam, or gypsum soils.

Distribution:

East 2/3 of Kansas.

Forage Value:

Livestock, particularly sheep, readily consume new growth of cobaea penstemon.

Comments:

The plant may be 2-3 years old before producing blossoms.

Cobaea penstemon inflorescence