Addisonia 49 



(Plate 145) 



PENSTEMON HIRSUTUS 

 Hairy-stemmed Beard-tongue 



Native of the northeastern United States 



Family Scrophul,ariacEa^ Figwort Family 



Chelone hirsuta ly. Sp. PI. 611. 1753. 

 Penstemon hirsutus Willd. Sp. PI. 3: 227. 1800. 



An herbaceous plant, from a short branched rootstock sending 

 up several slender stems, each terminating in a panicle of many 

 white-tipped lavender flowers. The stems are erect, one to two 

 feet tall, and, at least below, bear slender whitish hairs. The 

 leaves are of two types : those of the winter rosette, in early summer 

 persisting at the base of the stem, are ovate and petioled; those of 

 the stem are lanceolate and sessile, rounded at the clasping base 

 and tapering at the apex, with usually a few slender hairs beneath 

 toward the base, and slightly toothed on the wavy margin. The 

 panicle, less than one third the height of the plant, is narrowly 

 pyramidal, the primary bracts very narrow; the branching is as in 

 P. Digitalis; its stems, pedicels, and calyces are covered with 

 gland-tipped hairs; the pedicels are less than a fourth of an inch in 

 length. The sepals are ovate, about three sixteenths of an inch 

 long. The corolla is about one inch long, much narrower than in 

 P. Digitalis, the throat being gradually and but slightly inflated 

 while its mouth is nearly closed by two prominently raised ridges 

 at the base of the anterior lip. The lobes of the corolla all project 

 forward; the two posterior are arched and united for over half 

 their length, the distinct portions spreading abruptly; the three 

 anterior lobes are somewhat longer, and united most of their length 

 so as to form a short platform on which a visiting bee may alight. 

 The corolla is externally of a clear lavender, within paler, and white 

 on the projecting anterior lip; externally it is finely pubescent with 

 gland-tipped hairs, and within over the bases of the anterior lobes 

 and on the ridges it is pubescent with whitish hairs. The anthers 

 are always glabrous. The sterile filament is of the length of the 

 anterior lip and is densely bearded with stiff yellow hairs. The 

 capsule is slightly narrower than in P. Digitalis, and the seeds 

 smaller and less sharply angled. 



One of the most delicate-flowered of all the beard-tongues. 

 The corollas are borne with a scattered profusion that shows to 

 good advantage the form of each. Individually they are very 



