Beard-tongue

Description:

Spotted this flowering Beard-tongue plant in a landscape area at the Sonoma County Planning Office, Santa Rosa, CA.

Habitat:

Landscape area at the Sonoma County Planning Office, Santa Rosa, CA

Notes:

Native Americans long used Penstemon roots to relieve toothache. John Mitchell published the first scientific description in 1748; although he only named it as Penstemon, we can identify it as P. laevigatus. Linnaeus then included it in his 1753 publication, as Chelone pentstemon, altering the spelling to better correspond to the notion that the name referred to the unusual fifth stamen (Greek "penta-", five). Mitchell's work was reprinted in 1769, continuing with his original spelling, and this was ultimately accepted as the official form, although Pentstemon continued in use into the 20th century. Wikipedia