Burke: Penstemon richardsonii vs. Penstemon gairdneri

	Penstemon richardsonii	Penstemon gairdneri
	Richardson's penstemon	gairdner's penstemon
Habit	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.	Plants from a branched, woody base, the several, erect stems 1-4 dm. tall, also with short, densely-leafy sterile stems which tend to form loose mats; herbage finely gray-puberulent, with a few stalked glands in the inflorescence.
Leaves	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.	Leaves numerous, opposite to alternate, or irregularly scattered, entire, linear, seldom over 3 mm. wide.
Flowers	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.	Inflorescence of several few-flowered verticillasters; calyx 3.5-8 mm. long, the 5 segments broadly lanceolate, entire; corolla blue-purple or lavender, or occasionally bright rose-purple, 14-22 mm. long, somewhat glandular-hairy externally and internally near the mouth, the tube flared, the limb spreading; pollen sacs glabrous, ovate, 0.8-1.2 mm. long, becoming opposite; staminode bearded toward the tip.
Fruits	Capsule 5-8 mm. long	Capsule 6-8 mm. long.

	Penstemon richardsonii	Penstemon gairdneri
Flowering time	June-August	May-June
Habitat	Cliff crevices and other dry, rocky places at low to moderate elevations.	Dry, open sagebrush desert and scablands, low to moderate elevations in the mountains.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; southern British Columbia to north-central and northeast Oregon. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	East of the Cascades in Washington; Washington south to Oregon, east to Idaho. [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. 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	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. 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. richardsonii var. richardsonii	P. gairdneri var. gairdneri
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: 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 gairdneri

Richardson's penstemon

gairdner's penstemon

Habit

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.

Plants from a branched, woody base, the several, erect stems 1-4 dm. tall, also with short, densely-leafy sterile stems which tend to form loose mats; herbage finely gray-puberulent, with a few stalked glands in the inflorescence.

Leaves

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.

Leaves numerous, opposite to alternate, or irregularly scattered, entire, linear, seldom over 3 mm. wide.

Flowers

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.

Inflorescence of several few-flowered verticillasters;

calyx 3.5-8 mm. long, the 5 segments broadly lanceolate, entire;

corolla blue-purple or lavender, or occasionally bright rose-purple, 14-22 mm. long, somewhat glandular-hairy externally and internally near the mouth, the tube flared, the limb spreading;

pollen sacs glabrous, ovate, 0.8-1.2 mm. long, becoming opposite;

staminode bearded toward the tip.

Fruits

Capsule 5-8 mm. long

Capsule 6-8 mm. long.