It is native to western North America from Alaska to California to Colorado, as far east in Canada as Manitoba, where it grows in mountain habitat such as meadows, often in alpine climates.

This herbaceous perennial forms mats of herbage with some erect stems reaching about 40 centimeters in maximum height.

There are several varieties which vary in morphology, some more decumbent than others, some of which are known commonly as pincushion penstemons for their matted forms.

In general, the leaves are lance-shaped to oval, plentiful around the base of the plant with smaller ones arranged in opposite pairs along the stem.

[1] In cultivation in the UK the cultivar 'Roy Davidson' has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.