Burke: Penstemon rupicola vs. Penstemon wilcoxii

	Penstemon rupicola	Penstemon wilcoxii
	cliff beardtongue, rock penstemon	Wilcox's beardtongue
Habit	Basally shrubby, mat-forming perennial, the spreading-hairy, erect or ascending stems up to 1 dm. tall.	Perennial from a branched, woody base, the clustered stems 3-10 dm. tall, usually glabrous except for the inflorescence
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, strongly serrate with slender teeth, the basal leaves well-developed, elliptic to deltoid-ovate, the blade up to 9 cm. long and 5 cm. wide, about equal to the petiole; cauline leaves often larger than the basal, sessile, 4-10 cm. long and 1.5-4 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 of several large, loose verticillasters; calyx 2.5-5 mm. long, the 5 segments broadly lanceolate, narrowly scarious-margined; corolla blue, the paler throat with guide lines, 15-23 mm. long, the tube 4-8 mm. wide at the mouth, glandular-hairy on the outside, strongly bilabiate, the lower lip much longer than the upper, the raised portion bearded; pollen sacs 0.7-1.0 mm. long, wholly dehiscent, becoming opposite, glabrous; staminode with a recurved, bearded tip.
Fruits	Capsule	Capsule 4-6 mm. long.

	Penstemon rupicola	Penstemon wilcoxii
Flowering time	May-August	May-July
Habitat	Rock cliffs and rocky slopes from middle elevations in the mountains to the alpine.	Open or often wooded, sometimes in rocky places, from the foothills to moderate elevations in the mountains.
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 eastern Washington; Washington to Oregon, east to Montana. [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. 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. rupicola, P. rydbergii, P. serrulatus, P. speciosus, P. subserratus, P. triphyllus, P. venustus, P. washingtonensis
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 WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Penstemon wilcoxii

cliff beardtongue, rock penstemon

Wilcox's beardtongue

Habit

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

Perennial from a branched, woody base, the clustered stems 3-10 dm. tall, usually glabrous except for the inflorescence

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, strongly serrate with slender teeth, the basal leaves well-developed, elliptic to deltoid-ovate, the blade up to 9 cm. long and 5 cm. wide, about equal to the petiole;

cauline leaves often larger than the basal, sessile, 4-10 cm. long and 1.5-4 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 of several large, loose verticillasters;

calyx 2.5-5 mm. long, the 5 segments broadly lanceolate, narrowly scarious-margined;

corolla blue, the paler throat with guide lines, 15-23 mm. long, the tube 4-8 mm. wide at the mouth, glandular-hairy on the outside, strongly bilabiate, the lower lip much longer than the upper, the raised portion bearded;

pollen sacs 0.7-1.0 mm. long, wholly dehiscent, becoming opposite, glabrous;

staminode with a recurved, bearded tip.

Fruits

Capsule

Capsule 4-6 mm. long.