PENTSTEMON. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. pentstemon. 



735 



P. labrosus. — From the hills of Southern 

 California, with long narrow leaves upon tall 

 purplish stems of 3 to 4 feet, and long loose 

 spikes of narrow, tubular flowers, bright scar- 

 let, and held nearly erect upon first opening. 



P. laetus. — A shrubby Californian species 

 with grey down-covered growths a foot high, 

 and blue flowers of about an inch during July 

 and August. A pretty kind, but rare in gar- 

 dens and somewhat tender. P. Roezli comes 

 near this, with narrow leaves and flowers of 

 pale blue or lilac. 



P. laevigatas. — A tall plant with leafy 

 stems and long slender flowers, white or tinged 

 with purple, widening from a narrow base. It 

 is a common plant in the western States, its 

 best form being the " Foxglove " Pentstemon, 

 growing 4 or 5 feet, with larger and more in- 

 flated white flowers. 



P. Menziesii. — A shrubby kind found by 

 Douglas in the Rocky Mountains. It is a good 

 rock-plant for a sunny corner in dry sandy 

 soil, with freely spreading stems of less than 

 12 inches, and pretty rose- purple flowers of 

 brilliant hue. Increased by cuttings in sandy 

 soil. Its several forms are : — Doiiglasi, with 

 small thick leaves and lilac or rosy-purple 

 flowers ; Newherryi, forming a graceful bush 

 with pink or rosy-purple flowers ; and Scouleri, 

 a taller and earlier flowering form, of trailing 

 habit, rooting at the joints, and hardier than 

 the other forms, its flowers of bluish-lilac or 

 violet-purple. Oregon. 



P. Murrayanus. — A handsome and distinct 

 plant with flowers of deep scarlet about li 

 inches long, upon long slender stems of 2 to 3 

 feet, the lower leaves grey-green clasping the 

 stem. Texas. It is best grown as a tender 

 biennial, though perennial in its wild state. A 

 fine race of seedlings has been raised from this 

 plant by Messrs. Vilmorin under the name of 

 Murrayanus grandiflorus ; their flowers are 

 larger, richly varied as to colour, with a long 

 season of bloom. 



P. ovatus. — A pretty mountain plant from 

 the limestone summits of Idaho, with slender 

 erect stems of 3 feet, bearing bright green 

 leaves and loose spikes of blue flowers chang- 

 ing to rosy-purple. It is best grown from 

 seed at frequent intervals, old plants perishing. 

 P. Palmeri. — A handsome plant, of slow 

 growth and somewhat tender. Stems of 2 to 

 3 feet with thick grey leaves growing together 

 around the stem, and pale flowers flushed with 

 pink or purple and very wide at the mouth. 

 Best reared in pots, and only planted out to 

 flower in its second season. Utah. 



P. pubescens.^The wild kind of eastern 

 America, common as a loose-growing, slender 

 herb of 2 feet, with toothed and sticky leaves 

 and loose clusters of deep purple or flesh- 

 coloured flowers, enlarged at the mouth, but 

 closing like the flowers of a Snapdragon. 

 From Ontario, southward and westward. Syn. 

 P. Mackayanus. 



P. puniceus. — A beautiful plant, flowering 

 freely between summer and autumn. Stout 

 erect stems of I to 6 feet, with stemless leaves 



of grey-green, blunt and fleshy, and funnel- 

 shaped flowers of glowing crimson in clusters 

 of three and four, their rich colour set off by 

 clear white anthers. Arizona and Mexico. 

 A plant with all the good points of P. Murray- 

 aims, and much easier to grow, but not gener- 

 ally hardy in our winters. P. Wrightii comes 

 near this, but is dwarfer, smaller in leaf and 

 flower, and the flowers of a deeper crimson. 

 P. Eatoni is perhaps still nearer, its taller 

 growths yet more silvery, and its flowers deep 

 crimson, as in Wrightii. These kinds need 

 frequent renewal from seed. 



P. Richardsoni. — Found about the Columbia 

 River and its branches, thriving in the leafy 

 deposits drifted amongst the rocks. It is a 

 showy kind, forming long rambling stems of 3 

 feet, loosely branching, covered with shining 

 deeply cut leaves and medium-sized violet or 

 rosy-purple flowers. A robust plant forming 

 large tufts in flower from July onwards. 



P. rotundifolius.— A border plant growing 

 2 feet high, with thick rounded stems and 

 leaves of grey-green and large drooping flowers 

 of bright brick-red upon long stalklets, giving 

 the spike a loose appearance. N. Mexico. 



P. secundiflorus. — A distinct plant of free 

 growth, with narrow grey-green leaves and 

 bluish flowers suffused with bronze where 

 touched by sunlight. They are an inch or 

 more long, very broad and bell -shaped towards 

 the mouth, and carried in long, narrow, one- 

 sided racemes. Colorado. 



P. spectabilis. — A Mexican kind of 18 to 

 24 inches, with greyish-green leaves deeply 

 toothed, and pretty rosy-purple flowers of about 

 an inch, very open and full in the purple-lined 

 throat, and carried in branching panicles. 



P. triphyllus. — From the granite soils of 

 the Blue IVIountains: about 18 inches high, 

 bearing small violet or pale rose flowers in a 

 loose leafy spike, the pale inner throat of the 

 flowers lined with darker veins. A slender 

 herb, thriving in sandy soils. 



P. tubiflorus. — A distinct plant with tall 

 stems of 2 to 3 feet from low leafy tufts, the 

 stems bare save for a few small bracts and the 

 dense spike of tubular white flowers, some- 

 times shaded with purple, rising in successive 

 tiers. Kansas and Arkansas. 



P. venustus. — A pretty plant from the 

 western States, with erect leafy stems of 2 feet 

 and thick leaves sharply indented ; the spike 

 narrow, bearing fine purple flowers more than 

 an inch long. 



P. Watsoni. — A dwarf plant from the 

 mountains of Colorado, much branched, bear- 

 ing rounded leaves and small funnel-shaped 

 flowers of dark violet-purple, relieved at times 

 by touches of white. 



The Hybrid Pentstemons. — Pre- 

 cious flowers supposed to have come 

 from P. gentianoides, but more largely 

 from the pretty P. Hartzvegi. P. Cobcea, 

 too, has probably come in somewhere, 

 for some varieties bear a strong re- 

 semblance to it. Whatever their parent- 



