Burke: Penstemon fruticosus vs. Penstemon palmeri

	Penstemon fruticosus	Penstemon palmeri
	bush penstemon, shrubby penstemon	Palmer's penstemon
Habit	Bushy-branched, ascending or erect shrubs, the stems 1.5-4 dm. tall, glabrous except for the stalked glands in the inflorescence.
Leaves	Leaves opposite, the larger leaves crowded toward the base of the season\\\\'s growth on short, sterile shoots, the blades entire or toothed, up to 6 cm. long and 1.5 cm. wide, short-petiolate; flowering shoots with reduced and less-crowded leaves.
Flowers	Inflorescence a short, few-flowered, bracteate raceme, with simple, axillary pedicels; calyx 7-15 mm. long, with 5 lanceolate, long-acuminate segments; corolla blue-lavender to light purplish, 30-50 mm. long, 1 cm. wide at the mouth, keeled on the back, glabrous outside, with long, white hairs on 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 4 fertile filaments, long-bearded toward the tip.
Fruits	Capsules 8-12 mm. long.

	Penstemon fruticosus	Penstemon palmeri
Flowering time	May-August	May-July
Habitat	Common in rocky, open or wooded areas, foothills to rather high elevations in the mountains.	Roadsides where seeded for soil stabilization.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Oregon, east to Alberta, Montana and Wyoming. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Reported from Spokane County in Washington; Washington south to California, east to the Rocky Mountains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Introduced from southwestern United States
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	P. acuminatus, P. attenuatus, P. barrettiae, P. cardwellii, P. cinereus, P. confertus, P. davidsonii, P. deustus, P. ellipticus, P. eriantherus, P. euglaucus, 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. gairdneri, P. glandulosus, P. hesperius, P. lyallii, P. ovatus, 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. fruticosus var. fruticosus, P. fruticosus var. scouleri, P. fruticosus var. serratus	P. palmeri var. palmeri
Web links	Local floras: BC, 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 WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Penstemon palmeri

bush penstemon, shrubby penstemon

Palmer's penstemon

Habit

Bushy-branched, ascending or erect shrubs, the stems 1.5-4 dm. tall, glabrous except for the stalked glands in the inflorescence.

Leaves

Leaves opposite, the larger leaves crowded toward the base of the season\\\\'s growth on short, sterile shoots, the blades entire or toothed, up to 6 cm. long and 1.5 cm. wide, short-petiolate; flowering shoots with reduced and less-crowded leaves.

Flowers

Inflorescence a short, few-flowered, bracteate raceme, with simple, axillary pedicels;

calyx 7-15 mm. long, with 5 lanceolate, long-acuminate segments;

corolla blue-lavender to light purplish, 30-50 mm. long, 1 cm. wide at the mouth, keeled on the back, glabrous outside, with long, white hairs on 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 4 fertile filaments, long-bearded toward the tip.

Fruits

Capsules 8-12 mm. long.