Whitemargin Beardtongue
Penstemon albomarginatus
Color: Pink to purple
Common name: Whitemargin beardtongue, White-margined Beardtongue
Latin name: Penstemon albomarginatus
Family: SCROPHULARIACEAE
Height: 8-14 inches
Description: It is a perennial herb with several erect stems emerging from a taproot in the sand, their base buried beneath the surface. The stem branches are hairless and somewhat waxy in texture, reaching up to about 35 centimeters tall. The inflorescence produces several purplish-pink tubular flowers between 1 and 2 centimeters long surrounded at the bases by toothed, white-edged sepals. The flower has some hairs in the mouth, but the sterile stamen is hairless. The flowers are pollinated by vespid wasps and probably other insects, such as carabid beetles.
Leaf: The oppositely arranged leaves are oblong or widely lance-shaped, pale green edged in white, and up to 5 centimeters long.
Range: Mojave Desert
Habitat: Loose desert sand, generally on stabilized dunes
Elevation: 700–900 m.
Flowering time: Mar–May
Notes: This photo was taken on April 7, 2005 on National Trails Highway near Pisgah Crater, San Bernardino County, California. For more information www.blm.gov/ca/pdfs/cdd_pdfs/whitemarg1.PDF Penstemon albomarginatus is a dicot that is native to California and to Arizona, to Nevada. It is included in the CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants on list 1B.1 (rare, threatened, or endangered in CA and elsewhere). Distribution outside California: Nevada, Arizona.
We have an online wildflower field guide that is designed to help you identify desert wildflowers by color, scientific name, region and common name. The pictures are sized to work on the iPod, iPhone, iPad and similar devices. With your iPod or phone you will easily be able to identify wildflowers while in the desert. Links for downloads are on the bottom of the Wildflower Field Guide page.
Photo tips: Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function - usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.
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