Burke: Penstemon cardwellii vs. Penstemon barrettiae

	Penstemon cardwellii	Penstemon barrettiae
	Cardwell's beardtongue	Barrett's beardtongue
Habit	Low shrub, the stems 1-3 dm. tall, ascending or erect.	Perennial, the lower part shrubby and branched, the stems 2-4 dm. tall; herbage and inflorescence glabrous and glaucous.
Leaves	Leaves opposite, glabrous, the largest on short, sterile shoots, serrulate or nearly entire, short-petiolate, the blades elliptic, 1.5-3.5 cm. long and 6-14 mm. wide; leaves of the flowering shoots less crowded, smaller, sessile and entire.	Leaves opposite, firm, irregularly serrulate or entire, the larger ones, up to 8 cm. long and 2.5 cm. wide, on sterile shoots borne toward the base of the main stem; cauline leaves broad, sessile, and clasping, 1.5-3.5 cm. long and 0.8-2 cm. wide
Flowers	Inflorescence racemose, few-flowered and crowded, glandular, the simple pedicels opposite and axillary; calyx 5-12 mm. long, the 5 segments thin and lanceolate; corolla bright purple to deep blue-violet, 30-38 mm. long, about 1 cm. wide at the mouth, keeled on the back, glabrous outside and with long, white hairs near the base of the lower lip within; anthers long-wooly, pollen sacs opposite; staminode slender, shorter than the 4 fertile filaments, long-bearded toward the tip	Inflorescence essentially a raceme, the axillary peduncles simple and single-flowered or sometimes branched and 2-flowered; calyx 5-7 mm. long, the 5 segments thin, ovate; corolla bilabiate, lilac or rose-purple, 33-38 mm. long, 1 cm. wide at the mouth, glabrous outside, long-hairy near the base of the lower lip within; anthers densely long-woolly, pollen sacs wholly dehiscent, becoming opposite
Fruits	Capsule	Capsule narrow, up to 1 cm. long.

	Penstemon cardwellii	Penstemon barrettiae
Flowering time	May-July	April-May
Habitat	Open or wooded summits or slopes at middle elevations in the mountains.	Woodland openings and rocky slopes at low elevations.
Distribution	Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; southwestern Washington to southwestern Oregon. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring in the east end of the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; south-central Washington to adjacent north-central Oregon. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Threatened in Washington (WANHP)
Sibling taxa	P. acuminatus, P. attenuatus, P. barrettiae, P. cinereus, P. confertus, P. davidsonii, P. deustus, P. ellipticus, P. eriantherus, P. euglaucus, P. fruticosus, P. gairdneri, P. glandulosus, P. hesperius, P. lyallii, P. ovatus, P. palmeri, P. pennellianus, P. procerus, P. pruinosus, P. richardsonii, P. rupicola, P. rydbergii, P. serrulatus, P. speciosus, P. subserratus, P. triphyllus, P. venustus, P. washingtonensis, P. wilcoxii	P. acuminatus, P. attenuatus, P. cardwellii, P. cinereus, P. confertus, P. davidsonii, P. deustus, P. ellipticus, P. eriantherus, P. euglaucus, P. fruticosus, P. gairdneri, P. glandulosus, P. hesperius, P. lyallii, P. ovatus, P. palmeri, P. pennellianus, P. procerus, P. pruinosus, P. richardsonii, P. rupicola, P. rydbergii, P. serrulatus, P. speciosus, P. subserratus, P. triphyllus, P. venustus, P. washingtonensis, P. wilcoxii
Web links	Local floras: OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Penstemon cardwellii

Penstemon barrettiae

Cardwell's beardtongue

Barrett's beardtongue

Habit

Low shrub, the stems 1-3 dm. tall, ascending or erect.

Perennial, the lower part shrubby and branched, the stems 2-4 dm. tall; herbage and inflorescence glabrous and glaucous.

Leaves

Leaves opposite, glabrous, the largest on short, sterile shoots, serrulate or nearly entire, short-petiolate, the blades elliptic, 1.5-3.5 cm. long and 6-14 mm. wide;

leaves of the flowering shoots less crowded, smaller, sessile and entire.

Leaves opposite, firm, irregularly serrulate or entire, the larger ones, up to 8 cm. long and 2.5 cm. wide, on sterile shoots borne toward the base of the main stem;

cauline leaves broad, sessile, and clasping, 1.5-3.5 cm. long and 0.8-2 cm. wide

Flowers

Inflorescence racemose, few-flowered and crowded, glandular, the simple pedicels opposite and axillary;

calyx 5-12 mm. long, the 5 segments thin and lanceolate;

corolla bright purple to deep blue-violet, 30-38 mm. long, about 1 cm. wide at the mouth, keeled on the back, glabrous outside and with long, white hairs near the base of the lower lip within;

anthers long-wooly, pollen sacs opposite;

staminode slender, shorter than the 4 fertile filaments, long-bearded toward the tip

Inflorescence essentially a raceme, the axillary peduncles simple and single-flowered or sometimes branched and 2-flowered;

calyx 5-7 mm. long, the 5 segments thin, ovate;

corolla bilabiate, lilac or rose-purple, 33-38 mm. long, 1 cm. wide at the mouth, glabrous outside, long-hairy near the base of the lower lip within;

anthers densely long-woolly, pollen sacs wholly dehiscent, becoming opposite

Fruits

Capsule

Capsule narrow, up to 1 cm. long.