This beautiful perennial herb has long shafts of purplish flowers and usually blooms after most of the spring and summer flowers have disappeared. It will stand conspicuously in the canyon bottoms along the McKittrick Canyon and Devil's Hall trails. The bright red color we are so drawn to is actually the bracts or leaves, among which the tiny greenish flowers lay quite hidden. Royal Beard-Tongue , Figwort Family Penstemon cardinalis Look for bright red tube flowers that are over an inch long growing on stiff stalks. Found mostly in the moist canyon bottoms on limestone boulder outcrops.
Flowers bloom in clusters at the end of tall, single, stiff stems.
Wallflower grows in calcareous soils especially in clearings in the Bowl. Look for this exceptionally beautiful plant as you hike from Dog Canyon along the Tejas Trail, or in the Bowl. Tubular flowers are about 1 inch long, and are a beautiful scarlet color. You will find it in semi-shaded moist areas. The flashy flowers of this bushy plant grow on single stems, and consist of many bright red-orange petals tipped in yellow, surrounding a yellow center, which turns deep red with age.