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egg-leaf beardtongue, broad-leaved penstemon

cliff beardtongue, rock penstemon

Habit Robust perennial from a woody base, the clustered stems 3-10 dm. tall, with stiff, spreading hairs below the inflorescence Basally shrubby, mat-forming perennial, the spreading-hairy, erect or ascending stems up to 1 dm. tall.
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.

Mat leaves thick and firm, glaucous, glabrous or with short, spreading hairs, irregularly serrulate, the broadly elliptic or obovate blade 8-18 mm. long;

leaves of the flowering shoots opposite, few, less than 1 cm. long.

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, glandular-hairy;

calyx 6-11 mm. long, the 5 segments narrowly lance-elliptic to ovate-oblong;

corolla bright pink to rose-purple, 25-35 mm. long, keeled on the back, usually glabrous inside and out;

anthers long-woolly;

pollen sacs wholly dehiscent and opening wide enough to form a plane;

staminode slender, shorter that the fertile filaments, nearly glabrous.

Fruits

Capsule 4-6 mm. long.

Capsule

Penstemon ovatus

Penstemon rupicola

Flowering time May-August May-August
Habitat Open woods below 3000 feet in elevation. Rock cliffs and rocky slopes from middle elevations in the mountains to the alpine.
Distribution
Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; southern British Columbia to Oregon.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; Washington to California.
[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. richardsonii, P. rydbergii, P. serrulatus, P. speciosus, P. subserratus, P. triphyllus, P. venustus, P. washingtonensis, P. wilcoxii
Web links