Hall's Beardtongue Penstemon hallii Plantain family (Plantaginaceae)
This shockingly bright flower stands out on the it favors. Penstemon hallii grows to about eight inches tall in a tight mass of and stems crowded with flowers. Flower color ranges from blue/violets though shades of purple/pink. The plant is found only through the mountains of Colorado where Elihu Hall collected this plant among others in the summer of 1862 in Colorado with his friend J. P. Harbour and famed botanist, Charles Parry, "King of Colorado Botany."
plants with stems to 8", usually several to many, erect, below, sparsely above. Leaves , , all of them , often narrowly so, about 1/4" wide and 1-2" long. head-like and few-flowered or elongated with many flowers, (flowers on one side). about 1/4" long. blue to violet-purple 2/3 to 1" long, minutely to outside, within, the abruptly from almost no tube, the lips almost equal and equally projecting, the lower often . a .
An entire leaf has smooth edges. Not toothed or lobed.
oblanceolate -- top wider than bottom
inflated -- Swollen. Looks unusually large.
A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.
capsule -- a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. In
most cases the capsule splits apart to release seeds.
A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.
corolla -- The name for all the petals of a flower taken together.
throat -- The opening of a flower.
reflexed -- bent sharply back or down.
tundra -- Land above tree line characterized by a short growing season, intense sun
and wind, thin soils, very high snow fall and high rain fall. Contains low
growing sedges, grasses, dwarf shrubs and herbs.
Glands are plant structures that secrete liquids, salts or other substances.
Glands often appear as hairs with a drop of liquid at the end.
calyx -- the sepals of a flower, typically forming a whorl that encloses
the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud.
fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants.
It is formed from the ovary after flowering.
basal leaves -- a leaf that grows lowest on the stem of a plant.
secund -- With all of the flowers on one side. Having all parts arranged on one side.
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem.
glabrous -- smooth, glossy, having no bristles or hair-like structures. Bald.
alpine -- above the tree line. Thin soil, rocks, short growing season, frost, winter snow.
