Commonly they are lanceolate or oblanceolate, shaped like a spear's head or reversed, but rarely they are linear resembling a blade of grass.

[5] The flowers come in a spectrum of colors including pallid white, pink, blue, faded lavender, and purple.

[1][2] The specimens used to describe the species were collected in the mountains near Santa Rita del Cobre in New Mexico by John Milton Bigelow and Charles Wright as part of the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey.

[9] Apparent natural hybrids with salmon, pink-lavender, or pink flowers in New Mexico of Penstemon barbatus are likely a cross with this species.

[1] This variety was first described by Frank Samuel Crosswhite as a subspecies in 1965 and named to honor the botanist Asa Gray.

[2] It grows along the Front Range starting in Wyoming and then southward in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado into Mora County, New Mexico.

Its can be found at elevations of 1,400 to 3,000 meters (4,600 to 9,800 ft) on sandy or gravelly hillsides in pine forests and scrub oak woodlands.

The single specimen found in Sublette County, Wyoming is thought to be an escapee from cultivation by the author of its entry in the Flora of North America.

[15][5] Penstemon virgatus is native to North America and grows in both the United States and Mexico.

It is found in two discontiguous areas, Colima and Jalisco in the southwest and San Luis Potosí in the northeast.

[18] Wandbloom penstemon is particularly noted for its use in high altitude gardens,[17] but is easy to grow and has been planted far outside its natural range in the United States.