Flower:

Three to 6 opposite pairs of flower clusters on long, erect to ascending stalks arising from leaf axils in the upper plant, with 3 to 12+ short-stalked flowers in each cluster. Flowers are white to pale pink or lavender, about 1 inch (2 to 3 cm) long, tubular, the lower lip with 3 downward pointing lobes of similar size and shape, the upper lip erect and lobed in 2 parts somewhat smaller than the lower lobes. Inside the tube are several pinkish or purplish lines, 4 black-tipped stamens hugging the upper part of the tube, a white style, and a sterile stamen with sparse yellow hairs at the tip end.

The floral tube is abruptly inflated from the lower half. The calyx surrounding the flower is green to maroon and has 5 short, spreading, narrowly triangular lobes. Cluster stalks are 1 to 3 inches long and green to maroon. The flower, calyx and flower stalks are all densely covered in short, sticky, glandular hairs.

Leaves and stems:

Leaves are basal and opposite along the stem. Basal and lowest stem leaves are somewhat variable, stalked, mostly toothless, mostly hairless, narrowly spatula shaped to oblong to narrowly egg-shaped, 1 to 7+ inches (3 to 18+ cm) long, up to 1½ inches wide, pointed to rounded at the tip, and often somewhat wavy around the edges.

Stem leaves are more lance to egg-shaped to nearly triangular, pointed at the tip, thin, toothless or minutely toothed around the edges, stalkless, somewhat clasping, tend to be widely spaced with opposite pairs at right angles to the pair above and below, and are reduced to bracts in the flower clusters. Stems are erect, single or multiple from the base, green to purple, hairless except in the flower clusters.

Fruit:

Fruit is a capsule up to about ½ inch (8 to 14 mm) long containing numerous seeds.

Seeds are angular, brown, .8 to 1.3 mm long.

Notes:

Foxglove Beardtongue is more common to our south and east where it's found in meadows, prairies, woodland edges, savannas and along railroads. In Minnesota, the largest concentrations have been from wet ditches and upland meadows in Pine County. It is widely available in the nursery trade and is sometimes found in restoration plantings. The flowers are similar to White Penstemon (Penstemon albidis) but the latter has flower clusters on much shorter and is generally a smaller plant, reaching heights of only 6 to 20 inches. Also similar is Pale Beardtongue (Penstemon pallidus), which has smaller flowers and hairy leaves and stems where Foxglove Beardtongue is hairless except for the flowers.