Penstemon cobaea is a flowering plant in the
plantain family, commonly known as
cobaea beardtongue,
[2]prairie beardtongue or
foxglove penstemon. The plant is native to the central United States, primarily the
Great Plains from
Nebraska to
Texas, with additional populations in the
Ozarks of
Missouri and
Arkansas. There are also populations reported in the southwestern United States as well as in
Illinois and
Ohio, but these appear to be introductions.
[3][4]
Habitat
Penstemon cobaea grows on hillsides, gravel, rocky outcrops, and gypsum soils, and eroded pastures.
[5]Description
Penstemon cobaea is usually about 30 cm (1 foot) tall, occasionally as much as 60 cm (2 feet). Flowers has 5 lobes, with two large lobes on top and three small lobes on the bottom. The flowers have a structure reminiscent of a ribcage inside, and can be white or pink with magenta lines. The leaves of the plant are broad, at about 1.5 to 6 inches (3.8-15.0 cm) long and 0.5 to 2 inches (0.6-5.0 cm) wide.
[5][6]Cultivation
The flowers of Penstemon cobaea will eventually become brown and black capsules, which contain the seeds. After planting, the seeds will take about two years to flower. It is good to leave 16 to 20 inches between plants when gardening, and lime is often needed in the soil.[5]
References
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^"Penstemon cobaea Nutt.". Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""'"'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
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^"Penstemon cobaea". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
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^"Penstemon cobaea". Native Plant Database. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2017-01-27.
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^"Penstemon cobaea". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
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^ abcHaddock, Mike (2018). "Cobaea penstemon". Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses.
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^Nuttall, Thomas 1836. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, new series 5(6[3]): 182 parallel descriptions in English + Latin, as Pentstemon Cobaea