Burke: Penstemon ovatus vs. Penstemon richardsonii

	Penstemon ovatus	Penstemon richardsonii
	egg-leaf beardtongue, broad-leaved penstemon	Richardson's penstemon
Habit	Robust perennial from a woody base, the clustered stems 3-10 dm. tall, with stiff, spreading hairs below the inflorescence	Taprooted perennial, shrubby at the base, the several brittle, slender stems 2-8 dm. tall, puberulent, the inflorescence glandular-hairy and the leaves often glabrous.
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, all cauline, the lower reduced and short-petiolate, the others sessile, sharply serrate-dentate to irregularly pinnatifid, up to 7 cm. long and 3 cm. wide.
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 terminal panicle, leafy-bracteate below; calyx 4-8 mm. long, the 5 segments green or purplish, mostly entire, often unequal; corolla bright lavender to purplish-red, glandular-hairy outside, mostly glabrous within, 22-32 mm. long, over 1 cm. wide at the mouth, strongly bilabiate, the upper lip cleft nearly half its length; anthers 1.3-1.7 mm. long, permanently horseshoe shaped, the pollen sacs saccate and indehiscent below; staminode shortly exerted, long-bearded toward the tip, or glabrous.
Fruits	Capsule 4-6 mm. long.	Capsule 5-8 mm. long

	Penstemon ovatus	Penstemon richardsonii
Flowering time	May-August	June-August
Habitat	Open woods below 3000 feet in elevation.	Cliff crevices and other dry, rocky places at low to moderate elevations.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; southern British Columbia to Oregon. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; southern British Columbia to north-central and northeast Oregon. [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. procerus, P. pruinosus, P. rupicola, P. rydbergii, P. serrulatus, P. speciosus, P. subserratus, P. triphyllus, P. venustus, P. washingtonensis, P. wilcoxii
Subordinate taxa		P. richardsonii var. richardsonii
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 richardsonii

egg-leaf beardtongue, broad-leaved penstemon

Richardson's penstemon

Habit

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

Taprooted perennial, shrubby at the base, the several brittle, slender stems 2-8 dm. tall, puberulent, the inflorescence glandular-hairy and the leaves often glabrous.

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, all cauline, the lower reduced and short-petiolate, the others sessile, sharply serrate-dentate to irregularly pinnatifid, up to 7 cm. long and 3 cm. wide.

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 terminal panicle, leafy-bracteate below;

calyx 4-8 mm. long, the 5 segments green or purplish, mostly entire, often unequal;

corolla bright lavender to purplish-red, glandular-hairy outside, mostly glabrous within, 22-32 mm. long, over 1 cm. wide at the mouth, strongly bilabiate, the upper lip cleft nearly half its length;

anthers 1.3-1.7 mm. long, permanently horseshoe shaped, the pollen sacs saccate and indehiscent below;

staminode shortly exerted, long-bearded toward the tip, or glabrous.

Fruits

Capsule 4-6 mm. long.

Capsule 5-8 mm. long