Penstemon azureus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Plantaginaceae |
Genus: | Penstemon |
Species: | P. azureus |
Binomial name | |
Penstemon azureus Benth., 1849 | |
Varieties [1] | |
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Synonyms [1] | |
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Penstemon azureus is a flowering plant species known by the common name azure penstemon.
It is native to the mountains of Oregon and northern California. It grows in coniferous forests and woodlands in the Klamath Mountains, North California Coast Ranges, Southern Cascade Range, and Northern Sierra Nevada.
Penstemon azureus is a perennial plant that is a subshrub, a plant that is largely herbaceous, but is partly woody. [2] It has many thin, hairless branches that are woody toward their base. [3] They are most often 13 to 50 centimeters in height, but occasionally may reach 70 cm. [4]
The leaves of Penstemon azureus are blue-green in color. [2] Plants have both basal leaves and cauline ones, those attached to the base of the plant directly and those attached to stems, but sometimes they will have almost no basal leaves. When present the basal leaves and those on the lower parts of the stems will be 15 to 60 millimeters long and usually 2 to 10 mm wide, though occasionally as wide as 20 mm. They also vary in shape and may be obovate, teardrop shaped with the widest part towards the tip, oblanceolate, like a reversed spear head, or linear, narrow like a blade of grass. [4]
Each stem will have between three and twenty pairs of leaves attached to opposite sides of the stem. [4] Those higher up on the plant tend to be widest at the base and clasp the stem. [3] Leaves higher up the stem have a larger size range of size, they can be 10 to 90 millimeters long and 2 to 20 mm wide. The shape of these leaves may be elliptic, ovate, lanceolate, or linear. [4]
The inflorescence produces three to ten verticillasters, groups of flower with pairs of bracts under the attachment points. Each of these groups has two attachment points with one to four buds or hairless tubular flowers. [4] The buds are yellow in color. [2] The mature flowers are usually blue, but may occasionally be lavender or violet. [3] Each flower is 18–35 mm long. [4]
The scientific description and naming of Penstemon azureus was published by George Bentham in 1849. It has two accepted varieties. [1]
Penstemon azureus is known by the common names azure penstemon or azure beardtounge. [2]
The species is native to the US with the majority of its range in California and a smaller area in southern Oregon. In California it grows as far south as Tulare County. [5] There it is native to the Sierra Nevada foothills and the high mountains. It grows northward to Cascade Range and also grows from the north coast of California up into the North Coast Ranges. [3] In Oregon it is found in four counties, Curry, Josephine, Jackson, and Douglas. [5]
The variety angustissimus grows in moist woodlands or forests at elevations of 300 to 700 meters in elevation. [6] The variety azureus grows at higher elevations, 500 to as much as 2500 meters, and is associated with oak, pine, or juniper woodlands. [7]
Penstemon barbatus, known by the common names golden-beard penstemon, and beardlip penstemon, is a flowering plant native to the western United States.
Eriophyllum lanatum, with the common names common woolly sunflower, Oregon sunshine and golden yarrow, is a common, widespread, North American plant in the family Asteraceae.
Microseris acuminata is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Sierra foothill silverpuffs. It is native to the Central Valley of California and the mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevada, surrounding it. There is a disjunct occurrence in Jackson County, Oregon. The plant grows in grassy habitat, woodlands, and sometimes the edges of vernal pools.
Penstemon albomarginatus is a rare species of penstemon known by the common name white-margined penstemon. It is native to the deserts of southern Nevada, western Arizona, and southern California.
Penstemon anguineus is a species of penstemon known by the common name Siskiyou penstemon. It is native to the mountains of southern Oregon and northern California, where it grows in coniferous forests, often in open areas left by logging operations.
Penstemon californicus is a species of penstemon known by the common name California penstemon. It is native to Baja California and is also known from fewer than 20 occurrences in California, mainly in Orange and Riverside Counties. It grows in the forest and woodland habitat of the Peninsular Ranges and nearby slopes.
Penstemon papillatus is a species of penstemon known by the common name Inyo beardtongue.
Penstemon patens is a species of penstemon known by the common name Lone Pine beardtongue. It is native to the central Sierra Nevada of California and slopes and plateau to the east, its distribution extending just into Nevada. It grows in forest, woodland, and scrub habitat types. It is a perennial herb producing hairless, waxy stems up to about 40 centimeters tall. The thick, lance-shaped, gray-green, opposite leaves are up to 9 centimeters long and 2 wide. There are usually many leaves clustered around the base of the plant and smaller pairs higher on the stem. The inflorescence bears wide-mouthed tubular flowers up to 2 centimeters long with corollas in shades of lavender to magenta. The flower is mostly hairless except for the staminode which may have a coat of orange or yellowish hairs.
Penstemon speciosus is a species of penstemon known by the common name royal penstemon of western North America.
Penstemon acuminatus is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common names sharpleaf penstemon and sand-dune penstemon. It is native to the dry interior of the northwestern United States.
Penstemon angustifolius is a perennial semi-evergreen forb belonging to the plantain family. This species is 1 out of roughly 273 species of Penstemon. This species is also known as broadbeard beardtongue. This forb is native to central United States and can be noticed by its brightly and highly variable colored flowers.
The flora of the U.S. Sierra Nevada alpine zone is characterized by small, low growing, cushion and mat forming plants that can survive the harsh conditions in the high-altitude alpine zone above the timber line. These flora often occur in alpine fell-fields. The Sierra Nevada alpine zone lacks a dominant plant species that characterizes it, so may or may not be called a vegetation type. But it is found above the subalpine forest, which is the highest in a succession of recognized vegetation types at increasing elevations.
Penstemon australis is a perennial plant native to the southeastern United States, with the common name Eustis Lake penstemon.
Penstemon ambiguus, commonly known as the bush penstemon, pink plains penstemon, or gilia beardtongue is a species of Penstemon that grows in the shortgrass prairies and deserts of the western United States and northern Mexico. This bush-like penstemon grows in sandy, loose, and creosote soils and is particularly known for the spectacular flowering show it produces, sometime seasons turning whole hillsides bright pink–white.
Penstemon arenicola, commonly known as Red Desert penstemon, is a species of plant from the Western United States. It primarily grows in Wyoming, but it also grows in small areas of Colorado and Utah. It is a short plant known for growing in sand as referenced by its scientific name.
Penstemon albifluvis, the White River penstemon, is a disputed species or variety of Penstemon that grows in a small area in eastern Utah and western Colorado. It grows mainly on broken shale and rock formations in desert habitats. White River penstemon is very rare.
Penstemon confertus is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family; its common name is the Yellow beardtoungue. It is native to the US states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, and the Canadian provinces British Columbia and Alberta.
Penstemon yampaensis, the Yampa penstemon, is a rare species of plant from the western United States. It grows in the Yampa River drainage of Colorado and Wyoming and westward into Utah. It is one of the more unusual penstemons, having almost no stem. It is threatened from habitat disturbance, particularly the invasion of the non-native cheatgrass.
Penstemon breviculus, the narrow-mouth penstemon or shortstem penstemon, is a species of perennial flowering plant from the dry forests and steppes of the Colorado Plateau in the western United States.
Penstemon watsonii is a flowering plant that grows largely in Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. It grows in dry rocky areas and has blue to violet flowers.