Penstemon is a family of wildflowers that have tubes, which hummingbirds like.

How’s that for a non-scientific explanation?

There are many types of penstemon, and I know the names of some of them. Others are confusing, so if you are really into this, maybe you can discover the names. And remember, I only deal in common names (but sometimes read the Latin ones and have learned that Genus comes first and Species comes second, but I don’t know what those things actually mean.)

Pride of the Mountains, or Mountain Pride is a hot pink version.

The red one is called Golden Beard Penstemon, because if you look inside its mouth, it is yellow. (But why would it have a beard inside its mouth? Yuck.) I didn’t lie on the ground and photograph up into the opening for you. And I don’t know where I got the name “Golden Beard”, because in my book it is called Red, Scarlet, or Bridge’s Penstemon.

This next one might be called Showy Penstemon, but I’m not sure. What I am sure of is that the color slays me. It grows close to the ground and is hard to photograph well.

The fourth type I’ve only seen on Farewell Gap. It is a pinky-purple, or perhaps a purply-pink. It is called both Timberline and Davidson’s Penstemon.

Finally, there is one I learned as Whorled Penstemon, but all the books I consulted call it Meadow, Sierra, or Small-Flowered Penstemon. There is always a lot of it at White Chief, and I saw some at Eagle Lake last summer. It is another one that I have not photographed particularly well. It is lavender but for some reason usually shows up sort of pinkish.

And thus we conclude our non-scientific tangent into the wonders of Penstemon.