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scarlet bugler

gentian beardtongue

Habit Herbs.
Stems

ascending to erect, 30–120 cm, glaucous.

glabrous, glaucous, sometimes not.

Leaves

glabrous, glaucous;

cauline 5–11 pairs, short-petiolate or sessile, 40–100 × 10–40 mm, blade ovate to lanceolate, base tapered to auriculate-clasping, margins entire, apex rounded to acute.

basal and cauline, sometimes basal few (P. subulatus), or essentially cauline (P. centranthifolius), opposite, leathery, rarely not (P. alamosensis, P. parryi), glabrous, rarely scabrous, glaucous, rarely not;

basal and proximal cauline petiolate;

cauline sessile or short-petiolate, blade ovate, oblanceolate, lanceolate, oblong, elliptic, linear, or linear-subulate, margins entire, rarely toothed.

Thyrses

interrupted, secund to ± cylindric, 15–60(–100) cm, axis glabrous or obscurely scabrous, verticillasters 8–18(–22), cymes 1–5(–11)-flowered;

proximal bracts ovate to lanceolate, (3–)7–25(–87) × (1–)3–14(–30) mm;

peduncles and pedicels erect, glabrous or obscurely scabrous.

± interrupted, cylindric or ± secund, axis glabrous, rarely scabrous, cymes 2 per node, sometimes 1 per node (P. alamosensis);

peduncles and pedicels spreading to ascending or erect.

Flowers

calyx lobes ovate to lanceolate, 3–6 × 2–3 mm, margins erose, glabrous;

corolla scarlet, without nectar guides, nearly radially symmetric, weakly bilabiate, salverform, 25–33 mm, glabrous externally, glabrous internally, tube 8–10 mm, throat slightly inflated, 4.5–6 mm diam., rounded abaxially;

stamens: longer pair reaching orifice, pollen sacs explanate, 0.9–1.2 mm, sutures smooth;

staminode 13–14 mm, terete to slightly flattened distally, 0.1–0.3 mm diam., tip straight, glabrous;

style 18–27 mm, exserted.

calyx lobes: entire or erose, ± scarious, glabrous or sparsely glandular or glandular-pubescent;

corolla red, scarlet, crimson, magenta, pink, orange, lavender, violet, reddish violet, or purple, bilaterally symmetric or nearly radially symmetric, bilabiate or weakly bilabiate, not personate, salverform, tubular-salverform, or tubular-funnelform, sometimes ventricose, glabrous or glandular-pubescent to glandular externally, glabrous or glandular-pubescent internally abaxially or wholly, throat slightly to gradually inflated, not constricted at orifice, rounded or slightly 2-ridged abaxially;

stamens included or longer pair reaching orifice, filaments glabrous, pollen sacs opposite, dehiscing completely, explanate, sometimes navicular, connective splitting, sides glabrous, sutures smooth, sometimes papillate;

staminode included, flattened distally or ± terete, 0.1–1(–2.5) mm diam., tip straight or recurved, glabrous or distal 10–40(–70)% papillate or hairy, papillae or hairs to 1.5 mm;

style glabrous.

Capsules

8–11 × 6–7 mm.

glabrous.

Seeds

brown to black, angled, 1–4 mm.

2n

= 16.

Penstemon centranthifolius

Penstemon sect. Gentianoides

Phenology Flowering Feb–Jul.
Habitat Hillsides, chaparral, oak, pinyon-juniper, and Joshua tree woodlands, coastal sage scrub, pine forests.
Elevation 0–1800 m. (0–5900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
w United States; n Mexico
Discussion

Penstemon ×parishii A. Gray, a naturally occurring hybrid between P. centranthifolius and P. spectabilis (A. D. Wolfe and W. J. Elisens 1993), has been reported from Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties, California (D. D. Keck 1937; Paul Wilson and M. Valenzuela 2002). A wild hybrid between P. centranthifolius and P. eatonii also was reported from San Bernardino County, California (Wilson and Valenzuela). Penstemon ×dubius Davidson was described from Mount Lowe in the San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County, California, growing with P. centranthifolius and P. grinnellii. Hybridization between P. centranthifolius and P. grinnellii has been documented using allozyme and DNA data (Wolfe and Elisens 1993, 1994).

Three southern and central Californian tribes of Native Americans used Penstemon centranthifolius for drugs, food, and decorations (D. E. Moerman 1998).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Species 11 (10 in the flora).

Section Gentianoides is not monophyletic. Molecular data (C. A. Wessinger et al. 2016) placed some of the species in a clade that includes sect. Coerulei and other species in a clade that includes sect. Spectabiles; still others may be allied with sect. Glabri (A. D. Wolfe et al. 2006). D. D. Keck (1937) included most of the species of sect. Gentianoides in subsect. Centranthifolii [an unpublished name] of sect. Peltanthera D. D. Keck, including Penstemon cerrosensis Kellogg, known only from Cedros Island off the west coast of Baja California, Mexico.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Corollas glabrous externally.
→ 2
2. Corollas salverform, weakly bilabiate.
→ 3
3. Corollas 25–33 mm, tubes 8–10 mm; cauline leaf blades ovate to lanceolate.
P. centranthifolius
3. Corollas 18–26 mm, tubes 4–7 mm; cauline leaf blades lanceolate to linear or linear-subulate.
P. subulatus
2. Corollas tubular-funnelform, bilabiate.
→ 4
4. Corollas glabrous or glandular-pubescent internally; peduncles and pedicels ascending to erect.
P. confusus
4. Corollas glabrous internally; peduncles and pedicels spreading to ascending.
P. patens
1. Corollas glandular-pubescent externally.
→ 5
5. Corollas white-pilose and glandular-pubescent internally abaxially.
P. parryi
5. Corollas glandular-pubescent or glabrous internally abaxially.
→ 6
6. Calyx lobes sparsely glandular-pubescent.
→ 7
7. Staminodes glabrous.
→ 8
8. Staminodes 7–9 mm; leaves not leathery.
P. alamosensis
8. Staminodes 14–20 mm; leaves leathery.
P. havardii
7. Staminodes retrorsely hairy or sparsely to densely pilose distally.
→ 9
9. Corollas nearly radially symmetric, weakly bilabiate; staminodes: distal 2–3 mm retrorsely hairy, hairs yellow or whitish, to 1.5 mm.
P. superbus
9. Corollas bilaterally symmetric, bilabiate; staminodes: distal 2–7 mm sparsely to densely pilose, hairs yellow, to 1.2 mm.
P. wrightii
6. Calyx lobes glabrous.
→ 10
10. Staminodes: distal 2–3 mm retrorsely hairy, hairs yellow or whitish, to 1.5 mm; corollas nearly radially symmetric, weakly bilabiate.
P. superbus
10. Staminodes glabrous or distal 1–3 mm papillate, papillae golden yellow or reddish yellow, to 0.2 mm; corollas bilaterally symmetric, bilabiate.
→ 11
11. Corollas red to crimson, tubular-salverform, glandular-pubescent externally and internally; pollen sacs explanate.
P. utahensis
11. Corollas violet or reddish violet to purple or lavender, tubular-funnelform, glabrous or glandular-pubescent externally, glabrous or glandular-pubescent internally; pollen sacs navicular, sometimes explanate.
→ 12
12. Corollas glabrous or glandular-pubescent internally; pedicels ascending to erect.
P. confusus
12. Corollas glabrous internally; pedicels spreading to ascending.
P. patens
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 151. FNA vol. 17, p. 150.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Penstemon > subg. Penstemon > sect. Gentianoides Plantaginaceae > Penstemon > subg. Penstemon
Sibling taxa
P. abietinus, P. absarokensis, P. acaulis, P. acuminatus, P. alamosensis, P. albertinus, P. albidus, P. albomarginatus, P. ambiguus, P. ammophilus, P. anguineus, P. angustifolius, P. arenarius, P. arenicola, P. aridus, P. arkansanus, P. attenuatus, P. atwoodii, P. auriberbis, P. australis, P. azureus, P. baccharifolius, P. barbatus, P. barnebyi, P. barrettiae, P. bicolor, P. bleaklyi, P. bracteatus, P. breviculus, P. brevisepalus, P. buckleyi, P. caesius, P. caespitosus, P. calcareus, P. californicus, P. calycosus, P. canescens, P. cardinalis, P. cardwellii, P. carnosus, P. caryi, P. cinicola, P. clevelandii, P. clutei, P. cobaea, P. comarrhenus, P. compactus, P. concinnus, P. confertus, P. confusus, P. crandallii, P. cusickii, P. cyananthus, P. cyaneus, P. cyanocaulis, P. cyathophorus, P. dasyphyllus, P. davidsonii, P. deamii, P. deaveri, P. debilis, P. degeneri, P. deustus, P. digitalis, P. diphyllus, P. discolor, P. dissectus, P. distans, P. dolius, P. duchesnensis, P. eatonii, P. elegantulus, P. ellipticus, P. eriantherus, P. euglaucus, P. fendleri, P. filiformis, P. flavescens, P. floribundus, P. floridus, P. flowersii, P. franklinii, P. fremontii, P. fruticiformis, P. fruticosus, P. gairdneri, P. gibbensii, P. glaber, P. glandulosus, P. glaucinus, P. globosus, P. goodrichii, P. gormanii, P. gracilentus, P. gracilis, P. grahamii, P. grandiflorus, P. griffinii, P. grinnellii, P. guadalupensis, P. hallii, P. harbourii, P. harringtonii, P. havardii, P. haydenii, P. heterodoxus, P. heterophyllus, P. hirsutus, P. humilis, P. idahoensis, P. immanifestus, P. incertus, P. inflatus, P. jamesii, P. janishiae, P. kingii, P. kralii, P. labrosus, P. laetus, P. laevigatus, P. laevis, P. lanceolatus, P. laricifolius, P. laxiflorus, P. laxus, P. leiophyllus, P. lemhiensis, P. lentus, P. leonardii, P. linarioides, P. longiflorus, P. lyallii, P. marcusii, P. mensarum, P. metcalfei, P. miser, P. moffatii, P. monoensis, P. montanus, P. moriahensis, P. mucronatus, P. multiflorus, P. murrayanus, P. nanus, P. navajoa, P. neomexicanus, P. neotericus, P. newberryi, P. nitidus, P. nudiflorus, P. oklahomensis, P. oliganthus, P. ophianthus, P. osterhoutii, P. ovatus, P. pachyphyllus, P. pahutensis, P. pallidus, P. palmeri, P. papillatus, P. parryi, P. parvulus, P. parvus, P. patens, P. payettensis, P. paysoniorum, P. peckii, P. penlandii, P. pennellianus, P. perpulcher, P. personatus, P. petiolatus, P. pinifolius, P. pinorum, P. platyphyllus, P. pratensis, P. procerus, P. pruinosus, P. pseudoputus, P. pseudospectabilis, P. pudicus, P. pumilus, P. purpusii, P. putus, P. radicosus, P. rattanii, P. retrorsus, P. rhizomatosus, P. richardsonii, P. roezlii, P. rostriflorus, P. rubicundus, P. rupicola, P. rydbergii, P. saxosorum, P. scapoides, P. scariosus, P. secundiflorus, P. seorsus, P. sepalulus, P. serrulatus, P. smallii, P. spatulatus, P. speciosus, P. spectabilis, P. stenophyllus, P. stephensii, P. strictiformis, P. strictus, P. subglaber, P. subserratus, P. subulatus, P. sudans, P. superbus, P. tenuiflorus, P. tenuis, P. teucrioides, P. thompsoniae, P. thurberi, P. tidestromii, P. tiehmii, P. tracyi, P. triflorus, P. triphyllus, P. tubaeflorus, P. uintahensis, P. utahensis, P. venustus, P. virens, P. virgatus, P. wardii, P. washingtonensis, P. watsonii, P. whippleanus, P. wilcoxii, P. wrightii, P. xylus, P. yampaënsis
Subordinate taxa
P. alamosensis, P. centranthifolius, P. confusus, P. havardii, P. parryi, P. patens, P. subulatus, P. superbus, P. utahensis, P. wrightii
Synonyms Chelone centranthifolia
Name authority (Bentham) Bentham: Scroph. Ind., 7. (1835) — (as Pentstemon centranthifolium) G. Don: Gen. Hist. 4: 640. (1837) — (as Pentstemon)
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