Nat. Ord. Scrophulariacexe. 
it 
Pentstemon pubescens. 
Flowers spring np and die nngatliered.” 
wild Pentstemon is a slender, elegant branching plant, not 
unlike in outline to the fox-glove. The flowers are deli¬ 
cately shaded from white to pale azure-blue, sometimes 
varying to deeper blue. The corolla is an inflated slen¬ 
der tube, somewhat flattened on the upper side, with a rigid line 
passing from the base of the tube to the upper lip. There are 
also two bearded lines within. The lower lip is three-cleft and 
slightly projecting beyond the two-lobed upper lip ; the stamens are 
five, but one is sterile and thickly beset with fine white hairs (or 
bearded). The name is derived from a Greek word signifying five. 
The root leaves are broadly lanceolate and coarsely toothed; the 
upper or stem-leaves narrower, and nearly clasping the stem. The 
flowers grow on long branching stalks in a loose panicle. 
The plant is perennial, from one to two feet in height; it seems 
addicted to dry gravelly soil on river banks and dry pastures. The 
Beard-tongue would be well worthy of cultivation ; though less showy 
than the garden varieties, it is not less beautiful and keeps in bloom 
a long time, from July to September; it might be mixed with the red 
flowering plants of the garden to great advantage. 
