Burke: Penstemon cardwellii vs. Penstemon gairdneri

	Penstemon cardwellii	Penstemon gairdneri
	Cardwell's beardtongue	gairdner's penstemon
Habit	Low shrub, the stems 1-3 dm. tall, ascending or erect.	Plants from a branched, woody base, the several, erect stems 1-4 dm. tall, also with short, densely-leafy sterile stems which tend to form loose mats; herbage finely gray-puberulent, with a few stalked glands in the inflorescence.
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 numerous, opposite to alternate, or irregularly scattered, entire, linear, seldom over 3 mm. 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 of several few-flowered verticillasters; calyx 3.5-8 mm. long, the 5 segments broadly lanceolate, entire; corolla blue-purple or lavender, or occasionally bright rose-purple, 14-22 mm. long, somewhat glandular-hairy externally and internally near the mouth, the tube flared, the limb spreading; pollen sacs glabrous, ovate, 0.8-1.2 mm. long, becoming opposite; staminode bearded toward the tip.
Fruits	Capsule	Capsule 6-8 mm. long.

	Penstemon cardwellii	Penstemon gairdneri
Flowering time	May-July	May-June
Habitat	Open or wooded summits or slopes at middle elevations in the mountains.	Dry, open sagebrush desert and scablands, low to moderate elevations in the mountains.
Distribution	Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; southwestern Washington to southwestern Oregon. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	East of the Cascades in Washington; Washington south to Oregon, east to Idaho. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
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. ellipticus, P. eriantherus, P. euglaucus, P. fruticosus, 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
Subordinate taxa		P. gairdneri var. gairdneri
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 gairdneri

Cardwell's beardtongue

gairdner's penstemon

Habit

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

Plants from a branched, woody base, the several, erect stems 1-4 dm. tall, also with short, densely-leafy sterile stems which tend to form loose mats; herbage finely gray-puberulent, with a few stalked glands in the inflorescence.

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 numerous, opposite to alternate, or irregularly scattered, entire, linear, seldom over 3 mm. 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 of several few-flowered verticillasters;

calyx 3.5-8 mm. long, the 5 segments broadly lanceolate, entire;

corolla blue-purple or lavender, or occasionally bright rose-purple, 14-22 mm. long, somewhat glandular-hairy externally and internally near the mouth, the tube flared, the limb spreading;

pollen sacs glabrous, ovate, 0.8-1.2 mm. long, becoming opposite;

staminode bearded toward the tip.

Fruits

Capsule

Capsule 6-8 mm. long.