Wax-leaf Beardtongue
Penstemon nitidus
This perennial plant has blue tinged leaves and several flowering stems arising from the same roots. The top of each stem is crowned with many sky-blue flowers. The flowers sometimes have purple striping inside and a hint of purple in the petals. The bottom petals of each flower have what resembles a bearded yellow tongue.
Look for wax-leaf beardtongues on dry coulee ridges!
The City Nature Challenge is a global citizen science bio-blitz held annually. Last year, over 66,394 people from cities around the world documented urban biodiversity on the first weekend of May. Together, they submitted 2.4 million observations for more than 65,682+ species, including more than 3,940+ rare/endangered/threatened species. In Lethbridge, we had 16 observers submit 844 observations of 278 species. Can you help us top this in 2025?