Burke: Penstemon lentus vs. Penstemon ellipticus

	Penstemon lentus	Penstemon ellipticus
		rockvine beardtongue
Habit		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, 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 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 8-11 mm. long.

	Penstemon lentus	Penstemon ellipticus
Flowering time		Late June - September
Habitat		Rocky places at high elevations in the mountains, often on cliffs, ledges, or in rock crevices.
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Southwest Alberta, southeast British Columbia, northern Idaho and northwest Montana. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin		Native
Conservation status		Review Group 1 in Washington (WANHP)
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. 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 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	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 lentus

Penstemon ellipticus

rockvine beardtongue

Habit

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, 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 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 8-11 mm. long.