Foxglove Beardtongue
Penstemon digitalis
Summary 9
Penstemon digitalis (foxglove beard-tongue, foxglove beardtongue, or talus slope penstemon) is a plant in the plantain family, Plantaginaceae. The flowers are white and are borne in summer. It is native to eastern Canada and eastern and southeastern United States.
Description 10
Penstemon digitalis is a glabrous 3 to 5 foot tall herbaceous plant with opposite, shiny green, simple leaves, on slender, purple stems. The leaves are up to 5 inches long. While upright, the stems average anywhere from 2 to 3 feet tall. The flowering panicle extends to almost one third of the plant's height and has pairs of branches which repeat with two flowers multiple times. The pedicels are almost one fourth of an inch long and produce 1.25 inch long two-lipped tubular flowers over dark green foliage. The flowers have tiny white hairs on the outside of the tube. The plant has elliptic basal leaves and lance-shaped to oblong stem leaves.
Distribution and Habitat 9
The species was originally described as "Fox-Glove-Like Pentstemon" (sic) and the specific epithet digitalis is a direct reference to the foxglove genus Digitalis. The plant grows in moist, sandy soil in full sun in meadows, prairies, fields, wood margins, open woods and along railroad tracks. Its bloom period is from late spring to early summer. Native states for P. digitalis include Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri although it is less common in Iowan native prairies compared to other Penstemon species.
Description 10
The plant is known to attract butterflies and birds such as hummingbirds. It tolerates deer browsing.
Read More 11
- https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=g590
- https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=pedi
- https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/fx_penstemonx.htm
Sources and Credits
- (c) Paul Tavares, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Paul Tavares
- (c) Julie Anne Workman, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Penstemon_digitalis_-White_Bedder-_3-2739.jpg
- (c) Eric Hunt, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Penstemon_digitalis.jpg
- (c) thesnaguy, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by thesnaguy
- (c) Michael Ellis, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Michael Ellis
- (c) Lee Elliott, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Lee Elliott
- (c) D. Gordon E. Robertson, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Foxglove_Beard-tongue,_Fletcher.jpg
- (c) Joshua Mayer, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Penstemon_digitalis_-_Flickr_-_wackybadger.jpg
- Adapted by Murfreesboro,TN, Natural Resource Division from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penstemon_digitalis
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penstemon_digitalis
- (c) Murfreesboro,TN, Natural Resource Division, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- eFloras.org
- Flora of North America (beta)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- Go Botany
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- Maryland Biodiversity Project
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- USDA PLANTS database
- VASCAN by Canadensys
- World Flora Online
iNat Map
| Form | Forb/herb |
|---|---|
| Light | Full sun, Part sun |
| Soil moisture | Dry, Medium |
| Site | Prairie, Savanna, Woodland |
| Bloom period | May, June, July |
| Bloom color | White |
| Fruit/seeds/etc. | Seedheads |
| Wildlife supported | Birds - hummingbirds, Insects - pollinators |
| Family | Plantain family |
