Burke: Penstemon rupicola vs. Penstemon barrettiae

	Penstemon rupicola	Penstemon barrettiae
	cliff beardtongue, rock penstemon	Barrett's beardtongue
Habit	Basally shrubby, mat-forming perennial, the spreading-hairy, erect or ascending stems up to 1 dm. tall.	Perennial, the lower part shrubby and branched, the stems 2-4 dm. tall; herbage and inflorescence glabrous and glaucous.
Leaves	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.	Leaves opposite, firm, irregularly serrulate or entire, the larger ones, up to 8 cm. long and 2.5 cm. wide, on sterile shoots borne toward the base of the main stem; cauline leaves broad, sessile, and clasping, 1.5-3.5 cm. long and 0.8-2 cm. wide
Flowers	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.	Inflorescence essentially a raceme, the axillary peduncles simple and single-flowered or sometimes branched and 2-flowered; calyx 5-7 mm. long, the 5 segments thin, ovate; corolla bilabiate, lilac or rose-purple, 33-38 mm. long, 1 cm. wide at the mouth, glabrous outside, long-hairy near the base of the lower lip within; anthers densely long-woolly, pollen sacs wholly dehiscent, becoming opposite
Fruits	Capsule	Capsule narrow, up to 1 cm. long.

	Penstemon rupicola	Penstemon barrettiae
Flowering time	May-August	April-May
Habitat	Rock cliffs and rocky slopes from middle elevations in the mountains to the alpine.	Woodland openings and rocky slopes at low elevations.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; Washington to California. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring in the east end of the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; south-central Washington to adjacent north-central Oregon. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Threatened in Washington (WANHP)
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. richardsonii, P. rydbergii, P. serrulatus, P. speciosus, P. subserratus, P. triphyllus, P. venustus, P. washingtonensis, P. wilcoxii	P. acuminatus, P. attenuatus, 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. rupicola, P. rydbergii, P. serrulatus, P. speciosus, P. subserratus, P. triphyllus, P. venustus, P. washingtonensis, P. wilcoxii
Web links	Local floras: 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	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 rupicola

Penstemon barrettiae

cliff beardtongue, rock penstemon

Barrett's beardtongue

Habit

Basally shrubby, mat-forming perennial, the spreading-hairy, erect or ascending stems up to 1 dm. tall.

Perennial, the lower part shrubby and branched, the stems 2-4 dm. tall; herbage and inflorescence glabrous and glaucous.

Leaves

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.

Leaves opposite, firm, irregularly serrulate or entire, the larger ones, up to 8 cm. long and 2.5 cm. wide, on sterile shoots borne toward the base of the main stem;

cauline leaves broad, sessile, and clasping, 1.5-3.5 cm. long and 0.8-2 cm. wide

Flowers

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.

Inflorescence essentially a raceme, the axillary peduncles simple and single-flowered or sometimes branched and 2-flowered;

calyx 5-7 mm. long, the 5 segments thin, ovate;

corolla bilabiate, lilac or rose-purple, 33-38 mm. long, 1 cm. wide at the mouth, glabrous outside, long-hairy near the base of the lower lip within;

anthers densely long-woolly, pollen sacs wholly dehiscent, becoming opposite