Gardinier's penstemon

Penstemon gairdneri

General: Plants from a branched, woody base, the several, erect stems 1-4 dm. tall, also with short, densely-leafy sterile stems which tend to form loose mats; herbage finely gray-puberulent, with a few stalked glands in the inflorescence.
Leaves: Leaves numerous, opposite to alternate, or irregularly scattered, entire, linear, seldom over 3 mm. wide.
Flowers: Inflorescence of several few-flowered verticillasters; calyx 3.5-8 mm. long, the 5 segments broadly lanceolate, entire; corolla blue-purple or lavender, or occasionally bright rose-purple, 14-22 mm. long, somewhat glandular-hairy externally and internally near the mouth, the tube flared, the limb spreading; pollen sacs glabrous, ovate, 0.8-1.2 mm. long, becoming opposite; staminode bearded toward the tip.
Fruits: Capsule 6-8 mm. long.
Gardinier's penstemon  Gardinier's penstemon,Geotagged,Penstemon gairdneri,Spring,United States

Appearance

Mounding from woody base. Stems upright, numerous, with deciduous leaves. Looks like dead sticks in winter with no overwintering rosette. Leaves on stems many, narrow, entire with rounded or pointed tips, bluish with fine gray hairs. Flowers 1/2–3/4 in., lavender-pink to purple, white on inside of tube, hairy beard at mouth of tube. Face of flower, with 5 equal lobes, is more or less flat.
Gardinier's Penstemon  Gardinier's penstemon,Geotagged,Penstemon gairdneri,Spring,United States

Distribution

East of the Cascades in Washington; Washington south to Oregon, east to Idaho.
Gardinier's penstemon  Gardinier's penstemon,Geotagged,Penstemon gairdneri,Spring,United States

Habitat

Dry, open sagebrush desert and scablands, low to moderate elevations in the mountains.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php
http://www.pnwflowers.com/flower/penstemon-gairdneri
Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassEudicots
OrderLamiales
FamilyPlantaginaceae
GenusPenstemon
SpeciesPenstemon gairdneri