Foothills, montane. Open woodlands. Summer. 
Mike and Mona's Five Springs Farm, June 25, 2010 and Narraguinnep Natural Area, June 18, 2007.

These delicate pink/blue flowers grow on slender stems to three or four feet tall. Stem leaves are widely spaced and very narrow.  Basal leaves are broader and more numerous.

The plant is only found in the Four Corners states and Nevada. 

Asa Gray named the plant in 1876 from a collection made in Utah by L. F. Ward in 1875.  "Comarrhenus" is from the Greek "kome", meaning "hairy".

Foothills, montane. Open woodlands. Summer. 
Narraguinnep Natural Area, June 18, 2007.

The shape of Penstemon flower tubes is a diagnostic characteristic. Flower tubes of P. comarrhenus are very narrow and broaden quickly to a wide, almost spherical, throat. 

Both the tube and throat are very pale lavender pink but the upper and lower lips have stronger tinges of blue with strong red violet lines. 

The anthers are covered with kinky white hairs.