Penstemon australis |
Penstemon superbus |
|
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Eustis Lake beardtongue, southern beardtongue |
superb beardtongue |
|
Habit | Herbs. | |
Stems | erect, 30–86 cm, retrorsely hairy and glandular-lanate, not glaucous. |
ascending to erect, 30–140(–160) cm, glaucous. |
Leaves | basal and cauline, not leathery, retrorsely hairy, sometimes also glandular-pubescent, rarely glabrate; basal and proximal cauline 32–130 × 7–40 mm, blade spatulate to oblanceolate, base tapered, margins entire or ± serrate, apex rounded to obtuse; cauline 5–8 pairs, sessile or proximals short-petiolate, 16–122 × 3–23 mm, blade lanceolate, base clasping or tapered, margins ± serrate, apex acute to acuminate. |
glabrous, glaucous; basal and proximal cauline 40–160 × 14–40 mm, blade spatulate to oblanceolate or elliptic, base tapered, margins entire, apex rounded to obtuse or acute; cauline 3–8 pairs, sessile, (17–)44–115 × (4–)23–45 mm, blade ovate to oblanceolate or lanceolate, base tapered to cordate-clasping to connate-perfoliate, margins entire, apex rounded or obtuse to acute. |
Thyrses | interrupted, narrowly conic, rarely conic, 7–26 cm, axis ± glandular-pubescent, verticillasters 3–6, cymes 2–6-flowered, usually only 1 branch of each cyme elongating, others nearly sessile or distinctly shorter, 2 per node; proximal bracts lanceolate, 3–20 × 1–4 mm, margins entire; peduncles and pedicels erect, sometimes ascending, ± glandular-pubescent. |
interrupted, cylindric, (15–)30–60(–90) cm, axis glabrous, verticillasters 9–12(–20), cymes (1–)3–9-flowered; proximal bracts ovate to lanceolate, 11–55 × 4–30 mm; peduncles and pedicels ascending to erect, glabrous or pedicels sparsely glandular-pubescent. |
Flowers | calyx lobes ovate to lanceolate, 4–5.2 × 1.6–2.3 mm, sparsely glandular-pubescent; corolla white to pinkish or light lavender, with dark purple nectar guides, tubular, 20–25 mm, glandular-pubescent externally, moderately white-lanate internally abaxially, tube 4–5 mm, throat abruptly inflated, 4.5–6 mm diam., 2-ridged abaxially; stamens included, pollen sacs opposite, navicular, 1.2–1.5 mm, dehiscing completely, connective splitting, sides glabrous, sutures papillate; staminode 11–14 mm, exserted, 0.4–0.7 mm diam., tip straight to slightly recurved, distal 8–10 mm densely pilose, hairs yellow, to 2 mm; style 10–12 mm. |
calyx lobes ovate to lanceolate, 2.8–5 × 1.5–2.1 mm, margins entire or erose, sparsely glandular-pubescent proximally, sometimes glabrous; corolla orangish pink to red, without nectar guides, nearly radially symmetric, weakly bilabiate, tubular-funnelform, 17–22 mm, glandular-pubescent externally, glandular-pubescent internally abaxially, tube 5–7 mm, throat slightly inflated, 4–6 mm diam., rounded abaxially; stamens included, pollen sacs explanate, 1–1.5 mm, sutures smooth; staminode 8–11 mm, flattened distally, 0.6–1 mm diam., tip straight, distal 2–3 mm retrorsely hairy, hairs yellow or whitish, to 1.5 mm; style 10–11 mm. |
Capsules | 6–9 × 4.5–6 mm, glabrous. |
10–13 × 5–8 mm. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Penstemon australis |
Penstemon superbus |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jun. | Flowering (Mar–)Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Sandy pine and oak woodlands, pine savannas, hammocks, granite hills, sandy open areas. | Gravelly or rocky canyons, slopes, washes, desert grasslands, pinyon-juniper and oak woodlands. |
Elevation | 10–200 m. (0–700 ft.) | 900–1800 m. (3000–5900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA
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AZ; NM; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
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Discussion | Penstemon australis is known from the southern Atlantic Coastal Plain and eastern Gulf Coastal Plain. The species is confused most often with P. laxiflorus, which occurs farther west. Penstemon australis is distinguished from P. laxiflorus most readily by the stem vestiture; P. australis usually has stems with a mix of short, eglandular hairs and much longer, glandular hairs, while P. laxiflorus has stems with only short, retrorse hairs or, if glandular hairs also are present, they are sparse and occur just below the inflorescences. Penstemon australis also tends to have narrower inflorescences due to the unequal elongation of cyme branches. Ranges of the two species overlap in southwestern Alabama, and many specimens from Baldwin, Escambia, and Mobile counties are morphologically intermediate. Many specimens of Penstemon from the Appalachian Piedmont, especially in northeastern Alabama, northern Georgia, central North Carolina, and western South Carolina, combine morphological features of P. australis and P. canescens. These plants usually have equally developed cyme branches (as in P. canescens) but ascending or erect peduncles and pedicels (as in P. australis). Leaf shape generally is intermediate between P. australis and P. canescens. F. W. Pennell in the 1930s annotated most such specimens as P. australis. F. S. Crosswhite (1965e) also included these specimens in his concept of P. australis, assigning them subspecies status, though he never published the subspecies names that he used in his thesis and on herbarium sheets. The relationship of these plants remains unclear; they will key to P. canescens or P. laxiflorus. A. E. Radford et al. (1968) gave a chromosome number of n = 8 for Penstemon australis; this does not appear to be supported by any other published chromosome count. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Penstemon superbus is known from Cochise, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, and Pima counties, Arizona, Grant and Hidalgo counties, New Mexico, and in adjacent Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico. The species resembles P. parryi; it differs by broader leaves and corollas that are orangish pink to red, more nearly radially symmetric, and without white hairs abaxially in the throats. Penstemon superbus also resembles P. alamosensis, which is known from New Mexico and Texas to the east of P. superbus. The glabrous staminode of P. alamosensis distinguishes it from P. superbus. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 195. | FNA vol. 17, p. 154. |
Parent taxa | Plantaginaceae > Penstemon > subg. Penstemon > sect. Penstemon | Plantaginaceae > Penstemon > subg. Penstemon > sect. Gentianoides |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. puniceus | |
Name authority | Small: Fl. S.E. U.S., 1060, 1337. (1903) — (as Pentstemon) | A. Nelson: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 17: 100. (1904) — (as Pentstemon) |
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