Small Flowered Penstemon, Penstemon procerus

About Small Flowered Penstemon (Penstemon procerus) 5 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Penstemon procerus is a species of penstemon known by the common name littleflower penstemon. It is native to western North America from Alaska to California to Colorado, as far east in Canada as Manitoba, where it grows in mountain habitat such as meadows, often in alpine climates. It is a perennial herb forming mats of herbage with some erect stems reaching about 40 centimeters in maximum height. There are several varieties which vary in morphology, some more decumbent than others, several which are known commonly as pincushion penstemons for their matted forms. In general, the leaves are lance-shaped to oval, plentiful around the base of the plant with smaller ones arranged in opposite pairs along the stem. The flower cluster is made up of one or more clusters of tubular flowers with lipped, lobed mouths. Each flower is no more than one centimeter in length and is purple to blue in color, often with a white throat. The outside of the flower is generally hairless, while the inside may be lined with white or yellowish hairs.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Perennial herb

Size

0.16 - 1.3 ft tall

Flower Color

Purple

Flowering Season

Summer

Wildlife Supported

Hummingbirds; Native bees; Bumble bees; Butterflies: Chalcedon Checkerspot, Common Buckeye, Arachne Checkerspot
Bird gardens

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 13 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Common Buckeye Junonia coeniaJunonia coenia

Variable Checkerspot Euphydryas chalcedonaEuphydryas chalcedona

Edith's Checkerspot Euphydryas edithaEuphydryas editha

Arachne Checkerspot Poladryas arachnePoladryas arachne

Anicia Checkerspot Euphydryas aniciaEuphydryas anicia

Snowberry Checkerspot Euphydryas colonEuphydryas colon

White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata

Landscaping Information

Sun

Part Shade

Moisture

Low

Nurseries

Carried by 5

Soil Drainage

Medium

Soil Description

Succeeds in ordinary rich garden soils so long as they are well-drained. Soil PH: 5 - 5.8

Common uses

Deer Resistant, Bird Gardens, Hummingbird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens, Bee Gardens

Natural Setting

Site Type

meadows

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 17.9" - 156.0", Summer Precipitation: 0.84" - 5.90", Coldest Month: 21.5" - 46.2", Hottest Month: 40.0" - 70.3", Humidity: 1.30" - 20.13", Elevation: 2802" - 12231"

Alternative Names

Common Names: Littleflower Penstemon

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Small Flowered Penstemon

Penstemon procerus

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Small Flowered PenstemonPenstemon procerus

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Small Flowered Penstemon

Penstemon procerus