Burke: Penstemon ovatus vs. Penstemon fruticosus

	Penstemon ovatus	Penstemon fruticosus
	egg-leaf beardtongue, broad-leaved penstemon	bush penstemon, shrubby penstemon
Habit	Robust perennial from a woody base, the clustered stems 3-10 dm. tall, with stiff, spreading hairs below the inflorescence	Bushy-branched, ascending or erect shrubs, the stems 1.5-4 dm. tall, glabrous except for the stalked glands in the inflorescence.
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, 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 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 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	Capsule 4-6 mm. long.	Capsules 8-12 mm. long.

	Penstemon ovatus	Penstemon fruticosus
Flowering time	May-August	May-August
Habitat	Open woods below 3000 feet in elevation.	Common in rocky, open or wooded areas, foothills to rather high elevations in the mountains.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; southern British Columbia to Oregon. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Oregon, east to Alberta, Montana and Wyoming. [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. 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. 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
Subordinate taxa		P. fruticosus var. fruticosus, P. fruticosus var. scouleri, P. fruticosus var. serratus
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, 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 fruticosus

egg-leaf beardtongue, broad-leaved penstemon

bush penstemon, shrubby penstemon

Habit

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

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

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, 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 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 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

Capsule 4-6 mm. long.

Capsules 8-12 mm. long.