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Penstemon moffattii

Moffatt's Beardtongue

Family PlantaginaceaeGenus Penstemon

Also published as Penstemon moffatii. You are in the right place.

A stem of deep violet tubular flowers with magenta throats, rising from a rosette of gray woolly leaves on broken pale stone.
FlowerCecelia Alexander https://www.inaturalist.org/people/aspidoscelisCC0

About the plant

What it is and where it grows — not part of any germination protocol.

Flower
Deep violetRead from the photograph on this page
Native range
Colorado, UtahGBIF Backbone Taxonomy

Toxicity is noted only where a source states it. No note here is not a finding of safety.

Sources: Read from the photograph on this page — Deno's Garden; GBIF Backbone Taxonomy — Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Worth knowing

  • Alice Eastwood named it in 1893 for the Gilded Age financier David H. Moffat, from specimens collected near Grand Junction, Colorado, along a railroad serving the local coal beds. Experts consider it a good plant for dry rock gardens. Wikipedia: Penstemon moffatii

This source reports two treatments. Both are shown.

Protocol 1

DerivedN. C. Deno, 1993

Difficulty Low Rated by us, not by the source.

Start around January 25, 2027 for a May 3 last frost.

  1. Cold moist stratification

    Temperature: 40°F 4°C

Germination happens during step 1, in 70 days.

100% germination in 35–70 days.

Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. — N. C. Deno, 1993 · Ch. 20, Penstemon p. 187Public domain
Show the original text
Penstemon (Scrophulariaceae). Four types of germination were observed. Most Rocky Mountain species of a perennial nature germ. largely at 40 and often sowing at 70 was fatal or near fatal. A second group are short lived species that can flower the first year from seed typified by P. moffatii germ. 40(9/9 in 5-10 w) and 70-40(7/8 in 610 w)-70(1/10).
Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed., Ch. 20, Penstemon p. 187. Quoted exactly. Every value on this card comes from this record, except the difficulty rating, which is ours; the step names come from a fixed list.

Protocol 2

DerivedN. C. Deno, 1993

Difficulty Moderate Rated by us, not by the source.

Start around December 15, 2026 for a May 3 last frost.

  1. Warm moist stratification

    Duration: 90 daysTemperature: 70°F 21°C

  2. Cold moist stratification

    Duration: 90 daysTemperature: 40°F 4°C

  3. Warm moist stratification

    Duration: 90 daysTemperature: 70°F 21°C

    1/10 germinated in this phase.

Steps after step 2 run on after germination.

about 3 months from start to step 2. Germination happens during step 2; time not stated, 21 days assumed.

88% germination.

Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. — N. C. Deno, 1993 · Ch. 20, Penstemon p. 187Public domain
Show the original text
Penstemon (Scrophulariaceae). Four types of germination were observed. Most Rocky Mountain species of a perennial nature germ. largely at 40 and often sowing at 70 was fatal or near fatal. A second group are short lived species that can flower the first year from seed typified by P. moffatii germ. 40(9/9 in 5-10 w) and 70-40(7/8 in 610 w)-70(1/10).
Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed., Ch. 20, Penstemon p. 187. Quoted exactly. Every value on this card comes from this record, except the difficulty rating, which is ours; the step names come from a fixed list.

How each step is done, in Deno’s words, and what Verified and Derived mean.

Germination trials

Readers’ own records of sowing this species, published after review. Share your trial · All trials

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