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Slender beardtongue (aka, lilac penstemon) is another beardtongue/penstemon that is uncommon in Jackson Park. The stems are unbranched, green or purple, and may or may not bear hairs. There are both basal and stem leaves. The basal and lower stem leaves are 1-3" long and 1/2" wide, variable in shape and leaf margins; the stem leaves are smaller and minutely toothed. Individual flowers are pinkish, purple, or pale violet, about 3/4" long; they are comprised of a green calyx with five triangular lobes and a tubular corolla that is abruptly inflated in the more distal two thirds of the flower. The lower lip of the corolla has three lobes that extend down and out from the aperture the upper lip has two smaller, erect lobes. The interior of the corolla is white with several dark purple lines that act as nectar guides. The filament of a sterile stamen (a "staminode") bearing sparse yellow hairs runs along the midline of the lower half of the corolla, while the filaments of the other four stamens wrap around the inside of the corolla like ribs in a ribcage, with the black anthers positioned on either side of the midline of the upper corolla. A single style runs along the upper midline between the black anthers. The fruit is a more or less bullet-shaped capsule nestled in the persistant calyx. The calyx, flowers, and flower stalks are all covered with glandular hairs; the stems and leaves are not.

Penstemon

Penstemon gracilis

slender beardtongue [Blooms: Jun-Jul]

Hairy beardtongue is 1-2.5' tall and blatantly hairy — backlit plants seen from a distance show a white nimbus around the stems. The flowers are slender, lavender colored, with white lips; the aperture of the flower is nearly occluded by the arched lower lip. Like the other beardtongues/penstemons the tubular flowers have an upper and lower lip have a total of five lobes (two above, three below). The calyx, flower stems, and the flowers themselves are densely covered by glandular hairs; the stems are densely covered with fine white hairs. The stem leaves are pointed, triangular with toothed margins, and occur in opposite pairs; the leaf pairs are oriented at 90° to the pairs above and below them on the stem.

Penstemon

Penstemon hirsutus

hairy beardtongue [Blooms: May-Jul]