Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

TUBE PENSTEMON

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Penstemon tubaeflorus Nutt.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 1-3 feet

Family: Scrophulariaceae - Figwort Family

Flowering Period: May, June

Also Called:

Tube beardtongue.

Stems:

Mostly erect, 1-4, unbranched, glabrous.

Leaves:

Opposite, simple, stalked below, sessile and clasping above, obovate to spatulate below, lanceolate above, 1 to 5.5 inches long, .5 to 1.5 inches wide, glabrous; margins entire to slightly toothed; tips rounded or pointed; uppermost leaves distantly separated from inflorescence.

Inflorescences:

Panicles, elongate, 3 to 16 inches long, with 4-12 distinct, whorl-like clusters of 3-9 flowers.

Flowers:

Calyces 5-lobed, lance-ovate, glandular-hairy; corollas trumpet-shaped, .5 to 1 inch long, bright white, slightly 2-lipped, upper lip 2-lobed, lower lip 3-lobed, sticky glandular-hairy internally and externally; throat guidelines absent; stamens 5, 4 fertile, 1 sterile with short yellow hairs.

Fruits:

Capsules, egg-shaped, 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, woody; seeds numerous, tiny, brown.

Habitat:

Moist or dry prairies, open woodlands, roadsides, and disturbed areas, on loam or sandy loam soils.

Distribution:

East 2/3 of Kansas.

Comments:

The name is an allusion to the shape of the flower.

Tube penstemon flowers