Penstemon alamosensis

Penstemon alamosensis, commonly known as Alamo penstemon, is a rare species of penstemon from New Mexico and Texas. It is known for its tall flowering stems with coral-red flowers.

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Alamo penstemon is a variable species which can have flowering stems as short as 14 centimeters (5.5 in) or as tall as 1.2 meters (3.9 ft). Plants can have one or a few stems; the stems are slender, green or slightly gray-green, and hairless. Like the stems, the leaves are sometimes glaucous, always hairless, and are also not leathery. Plants have both basal leaves and two to six pairs of leaves attached to the flowering stems. The basal leaves have a petiole, a leaf stem, that is about as long as the leaf blade. The basal leaves and the lowest ones on the stems are elliptic to obovate or lanceolate and measure 2.5–14 cm long while 0.9–4.5 cm wide. Leaves on the flowering stems lack leaf stems, instead the base of the leaf attaches directly to the main stem. The upper leaves are reduced in size measuring 1–13.5 cm long and 0.3–3 cm wide, with a usual proportion being about four times long as they are wide. Flowering occurs in its native habitat in April, May, or June. The flowers are a bright coral-red trumpet opening to a nearly symmetrical face. The mouth of the flower has five lobes, three downwards and two towards the top with rounded ends. The flower measures 1.9–2.5 cm long and is covered with glandular hairs on the outside. The staminode is hairless and 7–9 millimeters long and the stamens do not extend out of the flower. The flowers are in 5 to 30 groups, though usually not more than 15, with the blooms pointing in all directions or sometimes more or less all in one direction away from the 12–90 cm long inflorescence. Each attachment point usually produces two flowers, but might have just one or as many as four. The fruits are capsules measuring 1.1–1.6 cm long and 0.5–0.8 cm wide.