Penstemon whippleanus
species of plant
Penstemon whippleanus, commonly known as dusky penstemon or Whipple's penstemon, is a summer blooming perennial flower in the large Penstemon genus. It is a widespread plant within the hemiboreal forests of the Rocky Mountains in North America. It is noted for the large deep purple-red flowers and a preference for high mountain elevations.
Description
Dusky penstemon is easily recognizable because it is the only species with its combination of large flower size, striking dark or pale flower, and the height of its flowering stems. They are usually 20 to 65 centimeters tall (8-24inches), but on occasion may be as short as 8 cm or as tall as 1 meter.
Like most members of its genus, Penstemon whippleanus is an evergreen perennial plant. They have both basal leaves, leaves attached to the base of the plant, and in pairs on opposite sides of their flowering stems. The basal leaves grow on short stems, are smooth without hairs, but not leathery. Each basal leaf is about 40–90 mm (1.5-3.5in) long and 10–30 mm (.5-1.5in) wide with a generally blade ovate to lanceolate shape. The leaves on the flowering stems are generally narrower and shorter, 25–60 mm (1-2.5in)in length and 3–15 mm, with a blade lanceolate to oblanceolate shape.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17741157. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Penstemon whippleanus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.