FIGWORT FAMILY 



Stem. — Erect, branched from the base, two to four feet high. 



Leaves. — Opposite, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, serrate; the upper sessile 

 and mostly clasping. 



Calyx. — Five-toothed. 



Corolla. — White, slightly tinged with purple, tubular, abruptly in- 

 flated, with open throat, two-lipped; upper lip two-lobed, the lower 

 three-lobed. 



Stamens. — Four, declined at the base, ascending above; a fifth, the 

 sterile filament, is bearded. 



Ovary. — Oblong; style long and thread-like; stigma entire. 



Fruit. — Pointed capsule, many-seeded. 



The Garden Penstemons are in the main derivatives or hybrids 

 of several species. Chief of these are: Penstemon barbhtus, 

 abundant in Colorado, varying in color from flesh and pale-pink 

 to carmine; Penstemon Hartwegi, or gentianoldes, native to the 

 mountain regions of Mexico, with large dark-purple flowers; Pen- 

 stemon campanulhtus, also Mexican, rose-purple, long in cultivation; 

 Penstemon cobaa, growing on the prairies of Kansas and westward, 

 bearing large blossoms varying in color from reddish-purple to 

 white; Penstemon acuminatus-ccerideus, and Penstemon digitalis. 



The native Penstemon of any locality is worthy of a place in the 

 home garden. All the species bear showy flowers, and the plant 

 takes kindly to cultivation. A few are Eastern, but the most 

 beautiful are on the Rocky Mountains and in Mexico, brilliant 

 and glowing beside every mountain trail and in every upland park. 

 The color range runs from white, through all the reds, to purple 

 and violet-blue, and the blossoms under cultivation are likely to 

 increase in size. Yellow appears in some of the wild species, 

 so that it is only a matter of time when it, too, appears in the 

 garden forms. 



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