Burke: Penstemon ovatus vs. Penstemon procerus

	Penstemon ovatus	Penstemon procerus
	egg-leaf beardtongue, broad-leaved penstemon	small-flowered penstemon
Habit	Robust perennial from a woody base, the clustered stems 3-10 dm. tall, with stiff, spreading hairs below the inflorescence	Plants tufted from a woody rhizome, the slender stems 0.5-4 dm. tall, glabrous throughout.
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, entire, the basal ones petiolate, oblanceolate to elliptic, up to 10 cm. long and 1.5 cm. wide, often poorly developed; cauline leaves few, mostly sessile, often much smaller that the basal 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 of 1-several, very dense verticillasters, the flowers curved downward; calyx 1.5-6 mm. long, the 5 segments truncate to acute, the margins scarious; corolla deep blue-purple, 6-11 mm. long, the tube narrow, 2-3 mm. wide at the mouth, not strongly bilabiate, the raised part of the lower lip bearded; staminode usually bearded, sometimes glabrous; pollen sacs glabrous, sub-rotund, wholly dehiscent and opening wide enough to form a plane.
Fruits	Capsule 4-6 mm. long.	Capsules 5-8 mm. long and seeds approximately 1 mm. in length.

	Penstemon ovatus	Penstemon procerus
Flowering time	May-August	June-August
Habitat	Open woods below 3000 feet in elevation.	Moist forest openings at moderate elevations to rocky slopes at high elevations.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; southern British Columbia to Oregon. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Widely distributed throughout Washington; Alaska south to California, east to North Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado. [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. fruticosus, P. gairdneri, P. glandulosus, P. hesperius, P. lyallii, P. ovatus, P. palmeri, P. pennellianus, 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. procerus var. procerus, P. procerus var. tolmiei
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, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, 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 procerus

egg-leaf beardtongue, broad-leaved penstemon

small-flowered penstemon

Habit

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

Plants tufted from a woody rhizome, the slender stems 0.5-4 dm. tall, glabrous throughout.

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, entire, the basal ones petiolate, oblanceolate to elliptic, up to 10 cm. long and 1.5 cm. wide, often poorly developed;

cauline leaves few, mostly sessile, often much smaller that the basal 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 of 1-several, very dense verticillasters, the flowers curved downward;

calyx 1.5-6 mm. long, the 5 segments truncate to acute, the margins scarious;

corolla deep blue-purple, 6-11 mm. long, the tube narrow, 2-3 mm. wide at the mouth, not strongly bilabiate, the raised part of the lower lip bearded;

staminode usually bearded, sometimes glabrous;

pollen sacs glabrous, sub-rotund, wholly dehiscent and opening wide enough to form a plane.

Fruits

Capsule 4-6 mm. long.

Capsules 5-8 mm. long and seeds approximately 1 mm. in length.