Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Front Range Beardtongue
Penstemon virens
Plantain family (Plantaginaceae)

Green Penstemon (Penstemon virens) is, according to Colorado flora expert William Weber, "The most abundant small-flowered Penstemon of the [East Slope] foothills and ," so abundant that one common name is "Front Range Penstemon." There are several dozen Penstemons in Colorado; they are attractive, many-flowered, and long blooming. "Penstemon" is most likely derived from the Greek "pente" ("five") and "stemon" ("thread"); one of the five thread-like is sterile and this is a visually distinctive characteristic. An alternate, but ultimately similar etymology: "paene" is Latin for "nearly" and thus the name means "nearly a thread, i.e., "nearly a ."


©2021 VALENTINA ROUMI

Description

usually with many erect, hairy stems forming dense clumps, to 15" tall. Leaves light green, shiny; to about 3" long, upper ~1", stem and nearly vertical, very minutely or almost . Narrow with bundles of flowers well separated along the stem. 1/3-1/2+" long, variously described as light to dark blue, or pink or bright blue, or deep blue-violet; hairy on lower lip and along tube. widened laterally, lower lip spread wider than upper lip. a .

Field Marks

Mat of , tight cluster of many blue-purple flowers, nearly vertical stem leaves.

© Al Schneider

stamen -- the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower; The stamen consists of an anther supported by a filament.

An entire leaf has smooth edges. Not toothed or lobed.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

corolla -- The name for all the petals of a flower taken together.

throat -- The opening of a flower.

capsule -- a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. In most cases the capsule splits apart to release seeds.

basal -- at the base, situated or attached at the base.

Glands are plant structures that secrete liquids, salts or other substances. Glands often appear as hairs with a drop of liquid at the end.

Like the teeth on a saw, leaves and other surfaces can have toothed edges.

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.

montane -- inhabiting mountainous country but below timberline.

A clasping leaf suroundes part of all of the stem.

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem.