General: Perennial herb from a branching woody stem-base; stems several, clustered, ascending to erect, 10-40 cm tall, usually smooth below, glandular-hairy in the inflorescence.
Leaves: Opposite, irregularly and obscurely saw-toothed or entire, bright green, thick and firm, mostly smooth; basal leaves lanceolate to oval or spoon-shaped, 4-10 cm long, 0.5-2 cm wide, stalked; stem leaves well developed, lance-oblong, 2-5 cm long, unstalked.
Flowers: Inflorescence a leafy-bracted, rather narrow, terminal cluster of 4 to 8 whorls of stalked flowers; corollas blue-violet to light blue, tubular, 1.2-2 cm long, hairy on the outside, hairy inside at the throat, 2-lipped, the lower lip a bit longer than the upper; calyces 3-6 mm long, somewhat glandular-hairy, 5-lobed, the lobes nearly distinct, broadly lanceolate to egg-shaped, slightly papery-margined, pointy-tipped; fertile stamens 4, the anthers smooth except for the often bristle-toothed sutures; sterile stamen golden-bearded for less than half its length toward the scarcely expanded tip.
Fruits: Capsules, 5-7 mm long; seeds numerous, 0.8-1.5 mm long.
Dry open gravelly slopes, rocky ridges and forest margins in the montane to upper subalpine zones; infrequent in SE BC; E to SW AB and S to NW MT and C ID.
Really a lovely little penstemon with lavender pink flowers overlain with an iridescent blue. Some forms can be much more blue though these we have not yet seen in cultivation. Plum stained foliage. Unusual and easy addition to front of border in full sun and in well-drained soils. Remember not to cut back until spring - the foliage protects it through the winter. Penstemons are great for late summer colour so consider one, or a few, for your garden.
Note author: Gary Lewis, Phoenix Perennials
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Penstemon albertinus
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
