VIOLET BEARD-TONGUE.
Pentstemon heterophyllus, Lindl. Figwort Family.
Woody at base; many-stemmed. Stems.—Two to five feet tall. Leaves.—Lanceolate or linear; or the lowest oblong-lanceolate; diminishing into narrow floral bracts. Panicle.—Narrow. Pedicels one- to three-flowered; short and erect. Corolla.—Rose-purple, or violet suffused with pink; an inch or more long; ventricose-funnel-form above the narrow, slender tube. (See Pentstemon.) Hab.—Western California, specially southward.
The beautiful flowers of the violet beard-tongue are often seen among the soft browns of our dusty roadsides in early summer. They are truly charming flowers, and we marvel how any one can pass them by unnoticed. I have seen them especially showy in the southern part of the State, in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, where the plants often spread over two or three feet, sending up innumerable slender flower-covered wands. The undeveloped buds are of a characteristic greenish-yellow tone, making an unusual contrast to the expanded flowers and the rather pale foliage. The structure of the anthers is quite interesting, each cell consisting of a little bag with bristly margins, the two together being heart-shaped in outline.
P. azureus, Benth., or the "azure beard-tongue," is very similar to the above, growing from one to three feet high; but it is smooth and glaucous; its leaves are inclined to have a broader base, and its flowers are usually larger, azure blue, approaching violet, sometimes having a red-purple tube, while its border is often an inch across. This is found throughout the State, but is more common in the interior and in the Sierras. Its buds are not yellow.
![[AZURE BEARD-TONGUE—Pentstemon heterophyllus.]](#3624944100741987669_f118.png.id-1497739116706066644.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}