Eustis Lake Beardtongue
Penstemon australis
Found in longleaf pine sandhills, pine flatwoods, dry hammocks, dry sandy roadsides, woodland margins. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 1–3 feet
- Spread
- 1–1.25 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Dry to somewhat dry
Space about 1 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 100 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- Spring and summer
- Fruiting season
- July to August
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 20 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.
Habitats
Sandhills; pine flatwoods; roadsides, fields and disturbed ground; forest edges and thickets.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 79 animals.
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- American KestrelFalco sparverius
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- American Tree SparrowSpizella arborea
- American WoodcockScolopax minor
- Bachman's SparrowAimophila aestivalis
- Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Black VultureCoragyps atratus
- Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
- Blue JayCyanocitta cristata
- Blue-gray GnatcatcherPolioptila caerulea
- Brown CreeperCerthia americana
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Carolina ChickadeePoecile carolinensis
- Carolina WrenThryothorus ludovicianus
- Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
- Chipping SparrowSpizella passerina
- Chuck-will's-widowCaprimulgus carolinensis
- Common GrackleQuiscalus quiscula
Who uses this plant?
7CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Penstemon
- Elaphria chalcedoniaChalcedony Midget
- Endothenia hebesanaVerbena Bud Moth
- Euphydryas phaetonThe Baltimore, The Black Checker
- Junonia coeniaCommon Buckeye
- Pyrrhia ciliscaAmerican Bordered Sallow, Noble Sun Moth
- Pyrrhia exprimensPurple-Lined Sallow, Purple-Lined Sun Moth
- Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
46BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Penstemon
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
2Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Penstemon
- Atoposmia abjecta
- Osmia distincta
2BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Penstemon
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Tympanuchus pallidicinctusLesser Prairie-Chicken
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Plantaginaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 5a–9b
- Flower color
- Green, pink or white
- Fruit begins
- July
- Fruit ends
- August
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Spring and summer” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team) differs)
- Flower color · “Green, pink or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 5a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “1–3 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Good drainage; Occasionally dry; Very dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; NC Extension Plant Toolbox differs)
- Spread · “1–1.25 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S1? |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Virginia DCR Natural Heritage rare plant list
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Florida (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Northern Tier (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications