Burke: Penstemon ovatus vs. Penstemon ellipticus

	Penstemon ovatus	Penstemon ellipticus
	egg-leaf beardtongue, broad-leaved penstemon	rockvine beardtongue
Habit	Robust perennial from a woody base, the clustered stems 3-10 dm. tall, with stiff, spreading hairs below the inflorescence	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	Basal leaves opposite, clustered, petiolate, with ovate to sub-cordate blade up to 10 cm. long and half as wide, about equaling the petiole, serrate, hairy like the stem, especially along the mid-vein beneath; cauline leaves sessile and clasping, more sharply serrate, nearly as large, but more broadly oblong, the upper ovate.	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 large and open, strongly glandular-hairy; calyx 3-5 mm. long, broadly lanceolate, with parallel veins; corolla blue, 15-22 mm. long, glandular-hairy on the outside, the raised portion of the lower petal pale blue and hairy; corolla strongly bilabiate, the lower lip much the longer; pollen sacs 0.8-1.1 mm. long, fully dehiscent and becoming opposite, nearly glabrous; staminode bearded toward the recurved 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 4-6 mm. long.	Capsule 8-11 mm. long.

	Penstemon ovatus	Penstemon ellipticus
Flowering time	May-August	Late June - September
Habitat	Open woods below 3000 feet in elevation.	Rocky places at high elevations in the mountains, often on cliffs, ledges, or in rock crevices.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; southern British Columbia to 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. 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. 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: 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: 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 ellipticus

egg-leaf beardtongue, broad-leaved penstemon

rockvine beardtongue

Habit

Robust perennial from a woody base, the clustered stems 3-10 dm. tall, with stiff, spreading hairs below the inflorescence

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

Basal leaves opposite, clustered, petiolate, with ovate to sub-cordate blade up to 10 cm. long and half as wide, about equaling the petiole, serrate, hairy like the stem, especially along the mid-vein beneath;

cauline leaves sessile and clasping, more sharply serrate, nearly as large, but more broadly oblong, the upper ovate.

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 large and open, strongly glandular-hairy;

calyx 3-5 mm. long, broadly lanceolate, with parallel veins;

corolla blue, 15-22 mm. long, glandular-hairy on the outside, the raised portion of the lower petal pale blue and hairy;

corolla strongly bilabiate, the lower lip much the longer;

pollen sacs 0.8-1.1 mm. long, fully dehiscent and becoming opposite, nearly glabrous;

staminode bearded toward the recurved 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 4-6 mm. long.

Capsule 8-11 mm. long.