Burke: Penstemon rupicola vs. Penstemon cinereus

	Penstemon rupicola	Penstemon cinereus
	cliff beardtongue, rock penstemon	gray beardtongue
Habit	Basally shrubby, mat-forming perennial, the spreading-hairy, erect or ascending stems up to 1 dm. tall.
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.
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.
Fruits	Capsule

	Penstemon rupicola	Penstemon cinereus
Flowering time	May-August	April-June
Habitat	Rock cliffs and rocky slopes from middle elevations in the mountains to the alpine.	Open areas at low to middle elevations in loamy or igneous rocky or gravelly soils.
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 east of the Cascades crest in Washington; central Washington to northeastern California and northwestern Nevada.
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. richardsonii, 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. 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
Subordinate taxa		P. cinereus ssp. cinereus, P. cinereus ssp. foliatus
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: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria 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 cinereus

cliff beardtongue, rock penstemon

gray beardtongue

Habit

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

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.

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.

Fruits

Capsule