Penstemon eatonii / firecracker penstemon

Adjectives: drought tolerant, highly visible, native, rocky, showy, striking

Also known as: Eaton’s penstemon, firecracker beardtongue, scarlet-bugler penstemon

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Firecracker penstemon is a short-lived perennial herb producing several sprawling to erect stems from a mostly basal rosette of leaves. There are, however, also leaves at the bases of the flowering stems.The stems may reach as high as 3 feet. The leaves are lance-shaped to oval, untoothed, and somewhat leathery. They may be up to 4 inches long.

Clearly, the main attraction of this plant is its flowers. The individual flowers occur in spike-like clusters. They are brilliantly red and tubular, up two 2 inches long. Each flower is narrow and cylindrical, not spreading much at the mouth… unlike many penstemons. The flowers were once thought to be pollinated only by hummingbirds but a variety of generalist bees and other insects are now known to also be involved. Indeed, seed yields are higher when bee hives are set around known populations.

Although this is a native species, in the Valley, it seems mostly to be found as a component of restoration projects, especially along the old railroad right of way, i.e. the bike path between Victor and Driggs. It was probably planted as part of a seed mix by the highway department. (Indeed, that probably accounts for the pretty huge floral diversity in that area.)

The firecracker root system is fibrous and wide, making this species well adapted to drier areas such as dry slopes, sagebrush flats and accompanying junipers and mountain mahoganies. It is not found in wet areas.

Firecracker penstemon is also adapted to cold winters if covered with snow. Clearly this is the case but also an important feature of the Valley. Cold winters are also important for seed germination and the local subspecies (ssp. eatonii) has a greater chilling requirement  (stratification) than seeds from populations farther south.