A beautiful native flower, prized by gardeners, that is surprisingly common around here. This plant was growing in recently disturbed ground near a construction site—always a good place to look for interesting plants—along the Monongahela on the South Side. The pictures were taken on June 10.

For a fuller description, see the Penstemon digitalis reference page.

In the close-up picture below, we can see the hairy tongue, inside the tube of the flower, that gives “beardtongues” their name.