Climbing Pentstemon. Scarlet Honeysuckle
Pentstemon Cordifolius, Benth. Figwort Family
Woody at base, with long, slender branches, which climb over other shrubs. Leaves.—Cordate or ovate; an inch or less long. Calyx.—Campanulate; five-parted. Corolla.—Bright scarlet; eighteen lines long. Sterile stamen bearded down one side. (See Pentstemon.) Hab.—From Santa Barbara to San Diego.
In spring we notice in the borders of southern woodlands and along the roadsides certain long, wandlike branches with beautiful heart-shaped leaves, which are suggestive of those of the garden Fuchsia. Our curiosity is naturally aroused and we wonder what blossom is destined to grace this elegant foliage. Early summer solves the mystery by hanging the tips of these wands with brilliant scarlet blossoms, in every way satisfying the earlier promise.
These flowers often look down at us in a sort of mocking, Mephistophelian manner, as they hang amid the rich greens of other shrubs and trees. Seen with a glass, they are quite glandular. The fifth stamen looks like a very cunning little golden hearth-brush.