It is native to much of the northwestern United States from the Pacific Northwest to Wyoming, where it grows in many types of forest and open plateau habitat, often on soils heavy in volcanic rock or on limestone outcrops.

Penstemon deustus is a subshrub, a plant with a largely herbaceous character, but somewhat woody at its base.

[4] The leaves can be hairless or covered in glandular hairs and have edges that are shallowly to deeply toothed.

The glandular flower is cream in color with dark lining and reaches 1.5 cm in length.

[10] This species grows in dry rocky locations, very often on basalt rocks, but also sometimes on limestone.

They rated it vulnerable (S3) in Wyoming and critically imperiled (S1) in Utah, but did not evaluate it at the state level across the rest of its range.