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Penstemon digitalis
Also called Tall White Beardtongue, Foxglove Beardtongue, Digitalis Penstemon
Penstemon digitalis (known by the common names foxglove beard-tongue, foxglove beardtongue, talus slope penstemon, and white beardtongue) is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family, Plantaginaceae. The flowers are white and are borne in summer. According to Francis W. Pennell it is a native of the Mississippi basin and its occurrences in Canada and the eastern United States are introductions. Because of this Penstemon digitalis is the most widespread species of Penstemon east of the Mississippi River.
Like other Penstemon species, it is used in roadside planting because it is easily grown and showy. It is recommended for easy use in gardens from the Midwest to the Atlantic coast and Pacific Northwest by the American Penstemon Society. Iowa's Living Roadway Profiler from the Iowa Department of Transportation says that the plant's "decorative seed capsules add interest in the fall and winter".
One of the plant's cultivars is named 'Husker Red' because of its red foliage that has white or bluish-pink flowers. The Perennial Plant Association chose the 'Husker Red' cultivar of Penstemon digitalis as the 1996 Perennial Plant of the Year. The author of the book Perennial All-Stars described 'Husker Red' as "a stunning flowering perennial" and that "you can easily see why the Perennial Plant Association chose this perennial above all others". 'Husker Red' was named after the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The other cultivar, 'Mystica', is green at first and then later changes to red in the fall.
The natural distribution of Penstemon digitalis is in the central United States, largely in the watershed of the Mississippi River. Southwest of this it extends into Texas and to the east into Alabama. In the north it reaches into Michigan.
Firleaf beardtongue · Stemless beardtongue · Sharpleaf penstemon · Los Alamos beardtongue · Alberta beardtongue · White penstemon · White River Beardtongue · Whitemargin beardtongue · Gilia beardtongue · Penstemon angelicus · Siskiyou beardtongue · Broadbeard beardtongue
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Penstemon digitalis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
