VERONICACEAE

Penstemon cobaea

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habit--Penstemon cobaea is a short-lived herbaceous perennial	flowers--these are very large flowers!  They need to be, because they are pollinated by large bees, who must crawl inside the corolla tube.  Do you see the filaments of the four stamens?  Because they are curved and rigid, they are useful in preventing the corolla tube from collapsing.  Also, notice how the long style is covered with trichomes.  Because the style sticks out past the lip of the corolla, it is called exserted.  How many petals are there?  Is this flower actinomorphic or zygomorphic?
leaves--are these leaves opposite or alternate?  Notice that they are glabrous.	young fruits in late Spring--these are capsules that will open along the dark green lines you see on each fruit.   These lines are called lines of dehiscence (to dehisce is to split).  Do you see the old styles still attached to some of the fruits?  (The yellow and red structure at the top of the image is a ray corolla from Gaillardia pulchella.)