Penstemons: America's greatest wildflower and a new book!

Penstemon versicolor

A classic penstemon in bloom: in this case, a rather rare and local species I'll discuss later--one of the reasons for this post as a matter of fact: photographed 20 years ago in the Wildflower Treasures garden at Denver Botanic Gardens.

This is the map showing the distribution of Penstemon in the continental United States: I'll bet a concerted search would be able to fill some of those dark green counties--the "Driftess" area of Wisconsin and northern Iowa surely must have a few P. grandiflorus growing, for instance...and those dark green blotches in the Southeast! Few wildflowers cover the United States so gloriously and colorfully!

Here's another shot of Penstemon versicolor I took on another occasion in Wildflower Treasures: both the penstemon and the Garden are both long gone--even these photos were retrieved from a website where they are no longer present (their thumbnails are lingering sadly in the browser where I downloaded them). This distinctive penstemon was absent for decades in the standard Rocky Mountain Flora of the region where it grew: so many penstemons! The otherwise meticulous Dr. Weber apparently lost track of a few (he also forgot to list the distinctive Cochetopa pass endemic Penstemon ramaleyi!)

Here is the range of P. versicolor: one of our most showy endemic taxa: the map is misleading--it's pretty much limited to limestone bluffs along the Arkansas river--a narrow and fragile range that is undergoing rapid development from construction. Southeastern Colorado: perhaps the most under-touristed quadrant of the State has been discovered. And Woe betide the plants that lie in the path of bulldozers!

Sample page from the Barnett's monograph