HAIRY PENSTEMON (Beard Tongue) 



Penstemon hirsutus (L.) Willd. 



May - June 



Spring is over, and in its departure the blossoming 



Dry woods, hills of the hairy penstemon appears on the rocky hills 



and dry slopes of Illinois. The penstemon comes 

 as a final gesture of May. an introduction to June and high summer. Yet 

 penstemon still has something of the quality of spring flowers, but has 

 that sturdiness also which is common to sunnner blossoms. 



Hairy penstemon on a dry, sunny Illinois hill has a straight tall 

 stem decorated with pairs of opposite, hairy, stemless, tapering leaves. 

 The flower head is plumy and large, the small stems downy and often 

 a spiderweb is strung among them. The flowers are tubular, white or 

 lavender-white, with purple ])ee-lines in the throat. All of the flower 

 tnnnpets face outward in a loose, globular cluster. The tubular flower 

 is five parted, with a three-lobed lip much as in the mints. The throat 

 is densely bearded, hence the name of board tongue which is often given 

 to the penstemons. They are constructed in such a manner that only 

 specialized insects may push through for the nectar at the end of the tube. 



In addition to the above there are at least six other species of 

 penstemons in Illinois. Two deserve special mention. The pale beard 

 tongue {Penstemon pallidum) with downy leaves, tall nearly smooth 

 stems, and nearly white flowers that are short-tubular, is found in dry 

 wooded slopes. The foxglove penstemon (Penstemon digitali'?) ]x>rhaps 

 is most frequently found throughout the state. It grows in dry and 

 moist soils and often forms large colonies of plants which gi'ow 3 to 5 

 feet tall, with smooth leaves. The flowers axe white or purplish, the 

 corolla a little more tlian an inch long and gradually enlarged upward. 



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