Burke: Penstemon cardwellii vs. Penstemon ellipticus

	Penstemon cardwellii	Penstemon ellipticus
	Cardwell's beardtongue	rockvine beardtongue
Habit	Low shrub, the stems 1-3 dm. tall, ascending or erect.	Perennial, forming dense mats with creeping, woody stems, and with scattered, erect flowering stems 0.5-1.5 dm. tall, these with short, spreading hairs.
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, glabrous, those of the mat short-petiolate, the blade broadly elliptic, 1-2.5 cm. long and 5-15 mm. wide; leaves of the flowering shoots sessile, more ovate, nearly as large.
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 a compact, few-flowered raceme, with simple, axillary pedicels, glandular-hairy; calyx 8-15 mm. long, the 5 segments lance-linear; corolla deep lavender, 27-40 mm. long, 1 cm. wide at the mouth, keeled on the back, glabrous outside, with long, white hairs at the base of the lower lip within; anthers long-woolly, the pollen sacs wholly dehiscent and opening wide enough to form a plane; staminode slender, shorter than the fertile filaments, long-bearded much of its length.
Fruits	Capsule	Capsule 8-11 mm. long.

	Penstemon cardwellii	Penstemon ellipticus
Flowering time	May-July	Late June - September
Habitat	Open or wooded summits or slopes at middle elevations in the mountains.	Rocky places at high elevations in the mountains, often on cliffs, ledges, or in rock crevices.
Distribution	Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; southwestern Washington to southwestern Oregon. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Southwest Alberta, southeast British Columbia, northern Idaho and northwest Montana. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Review Group 1 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. barrettiae, P. cardwellii, P. cinereus, P. confertus, P. davidsonii, P. deustus, 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: BC, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria 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 ellipticus

Cardwell's beardtongue

rockvine beardtongue

Habit

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

Perennial, forming dense mats with creeping, woody stems, and with scattered, erect flowering stems 0.5-1.5 dm. tall, these with short, spreading hairs.

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, glabrous, those of the mat short-petiolate, the blade broadly elliptic, 1-2.5 cm. long and 5-15 mm. wide;

leaves of the flowering shoots sessile, more ovate, nearly as large.

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 a compact, few-flowered raceme, with simple, axillary pedicels, glandular-hairy;

calyx 8-15 mm. long, the 5 segments lance-linear;

corolla deep lavender, 27-40 mm. long, 1 cm. wide at the mouth, keeled on the back, glabrous outside, with long, white hairs at the base of the lower lip within;

anthers long-woolly, the pollen sacs wholly dehiscent and opening wide enough to form a plane;

staminode slender, shorter than the fertile filaments, long-bearded much of its length.

Fruits

Capsule

Capsule 8-11 mm. long.