Penstemon heterophyllus |
Penstemon heterophyllus var. purdyi |
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bunchleaf penstemon, foothill beardtongue, foothill penstemon |
Purdy's foothill penstemon |
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Habit | Subshrubs. | |||||||||
Stems | ascending to erect, 30–150 cm, glabrous or retrorsely hairy, hairs pointed, rarely glaucous. |
retrorsely hairy. |
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Leaves | essentially cauline, basal absent or essentially so, opposite, glabrous or retrorsely hairy to puberulent, hairs pointed, rarely glaucous; cauline 5–11 pairs, petiolate or sessile, 10–100 × 0.5–12 mm, blade oblanceolate to lanceolate or linear, base tapered to clasping, margins entire, apex acute. |
axillary fascicles absent, rarely present; cauline (25–)30–100 × 2–12 mm. |
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Thyrses | interrupted or continuous, cylindric, (6–)10–32 cm, axis glabrous or retrorsely hairy, verticillasters (3–)5–14, cymes 1(–3)-flowered, (1 or)2 per node; proximal bracts lanceolate to linear, 5–65 × 0.5–5 mm; peduncles and pedicels ascending to erect, glabrous or retrorsely hairy. |
axis retrorsely hairy. |
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Flowers | calyx lobes obovate to oblanceolate or ovate to lanceolate, 2.6–6(–7) × 1.3–3.3 mm, glabrous or puberulent; corolla blue to violet or purple, without nectar guides, ventricose to ventricose-ampliate, 24–38 mm, glabrous externally, glabrous internally, tube 7–10 mm, throat gradually inflated, 8–11 mm diam., 2-ridged abaxially; stamens included or longer pair reaching orifice or slightly exserted, filaments glabrous, pollen sacs parallel, 2.2–3 mm, distal 1/3–1/2 indehiscent, sides pubescent to lanate, hairs white, to 0.8 mm near filament attachment, sutures denticulate, teeth to 0.2 mm; staminode 16–19 mm, included, 0.4–0.6 mm diam., glabrous; style 18–27 mm. |
calyx lobes ovate to lanceolate. |
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Capsules | 6–9 × 4–5 mm. |
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2n | = 16, 32. |
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Penstemon heterophyllus |
Penstemon heterophyllus var. purdyi |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jul. | |||||||||
Habitat | Grasslands, chaparral, pine forest openings. | |||||||||
Elevation | 50–1600 m. (200–5200 ft.) | |||||||||
Distribution |
CA
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CA |
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Discussion | Varieties 3 (3 in the flora). Penstemon heterophyllus apparently occurs only in California (see discussion under 209c. var. purdyi). The species includes three varieties concentrated in the Coast Ranges from Humboldt County south to San Bernardino and San Diego counties. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Variety purdyi occurs primarily in northern California from Humboldt, Lassen, and Trinity counties to San Benito County. The status of subsp. spinulosus has been problematic. Known only from the type collection (G. R. Vasey, June 1881, US) reputedly from the Santa Magdalena Mountains of New Mexico, the subspecies is disjunct 600 km east of the nearest California populations of Penstemon heterophyllus. F. W. Pennell examined the type in 1941 and provided evidence that the specimen was actually collected by Vasey in 1880 in Marin County, California, and D. D. Keck (1932) concluded that the only character distinguishing subsp. spinulosus from subsp. purdyi (= var. purdyi) is the length of the teeth along the anther sutures. This treatment concurs with the conclusion by Pennell that subsp. spinulosus is based on a mislabeled specimen and synonymous with var. purdyi. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 235. | FNA vol. 17, p. 236. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Plantaginaceae > Penstemon > subg. Penstemon > sect. Saccanthera | Plantaginaceae > Penstemon > subg. Penstemon > sect. Saccanthera > Penstemon heterophyllus | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Synonyms | P. heterophyllus subsp. purdyi, P. heterophyllus subsp. spinulosus | |||||||||
Name authority | Lindley: Edwards’s Bot. Reg. 22: plate 1899. (1836) — (as Pentstemon heterophyllum) | (D. D. Keck) McMinn: Man. Calif. Shrubs, 518. (1939) | ||||||||
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