''Penstemon parryi'', the Parry's penstemon, Parry's beardtongue or desert penstemon, is a wildflower native to the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...

of Southern

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and northern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It is a

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

that blooms in March and April. In the wild, plants flower in their second year. In cultivation, flowering is often achieved in the first year if seed is planted in the autumn. At the base of the plant are

lanceolate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

bluish green leaves that grow in a

rosette Rosette is the French diminutive of ''rose''. It may refer to: Flower shaped designs * Rosette (award), a mark awarded by an organisation * Rosette (design), a small flower design *hence, various flower-shaped or rotational symmetric forms: ** R ...

pattern. From the base emerge the flower stalks, which are 2 to 5 feet high and topped with numerous deep-throated flowers, usually pink but selected horticulturally for red color. Parry's penstemon is a desert plant. It thrives in full sun to part shade. A native lowland desert species, Parry's penstemon can survive on average Sonoran Desert rainfall, but not prolonged drought. It attracts hummingbirds. That plus the unusual splash of pink to red it provides make it a favorite xeriscape flower. Parry's penstemon was named for Charles C. Parry, who served as surgeon-naturalist on the Mexican Boundary Survey in the mid 19th century.Parry’s Penstemon Penstemon parryi. The Living Desert.

References

parryi North American desert flora Flora of Mexico Flora of Arizona {{Plantaginaceae-stub