Penstemon barbatus | |
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North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Plantaginaceae |
Genus: | Penstemon |
Species: | P. barbatus |
Binomial name | |
Penstemon barbatus | |
Varieties [2] | |
Synonyms [2] | |
Penstemon barbatus, known by the common names golden-beard penstemon, and beardlip penstemon, is a flowering plant native to the western United States.
The plant has spikes of clustered, tubular, scarlet blossoms with yellow hairs on their lower lip; the flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds. It is commonly grown in xeriscape and conventional gardens.
The late-summer flowering of Penstemon barbatus coincides with the southern migration of the rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus), and the hummingbirds use the flowers as "filling stations" for their long trip south. [3]
Penstemon barbatus usually has stems that grow straight upwards, but sometimes they grow outwards from the base of the plant for a short distance before curving to grow upwards. It may be 30 to 100 centimeters (1.0 to 3.3 ft) tall. [4] Plants may have just one flowering stem or many. [5]
Leaves on the plants may be smooth, partly, or uniformly puberulent, covered in hairs. [4] At times they may be glabrous, hairless, on the upper side of the leaves while the undersides are puberulous. [5] The basal leaves, leaves springing directly from the base of the plant, and those attached low on the stems range in size from 3–14 centimeters (1.2–5.5 in), though usually less than 8 cm (3.1 in). Their width ranges from as little as 6 millimeters to 35 mm, but usually between 12 and 30 mm. [4] Their shape is oblanceolate, resembling a reversed spear head, with the base tapered and the widest part past the middle of the leaf, and are attached by petioles, leaf stems. The upper cauline leaves, those attached further up the stem, are narrowly lanceolate or linear, shaped like a thin spear head or long and narrow like a blade of grass. [5] They measure between 28 and 142 mm (1.1 and 5.6 in) long and just 1 to 15 mm wide, usually less than 8 mm wide. The base is tapered and attached directly to the stem while the tip is acuminate, long and drawn out, or at least narrowly pointed. [4]
The inflorescence has six to nineteen groups of flowers, each with a pair of bracts under where the peduncles, the flower stalks, attach each flower to the main stem. In each group there are two cymes, points of attachment with a subgroup of flowers, each on opposite side of the main stem with one to four flowers, though usually at least two. The flowers are narrow, bright scarlet, orange-red, or crimson tubes that are smooth on the outside while having white to golden hairs inside the tube. The length of the flower is 26 to 36 millimeters (1.0 to 1.4 in). [4]
The botanist Antonio José Cavanilles named this species Chelone barbata in 1795. The species was renamed as Penstemon barbatus by Albrecht Wilhelm Roth in 1806, moving it to the Penstemon genus.
According to Plants of the World Online there are 21 synonyms of Penstemon barbatus or its three varieties. [2] [6] [7] [8]
Name | Year | Rank | Synonym of: | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chelone antwerpiensisTougard | 1840 | species | var. barbatus | = het. |
Chelone barbataCav. | 1795 | species | P. barbatus | ≡ hom. |
Chelone formosaJ.C.Wendl. | 1798 | species | var. barbatus | = het. |
Chelone formosaJ.Thomps. | 1798 | species | var. barbatus | = het. |
Chelone mexicanaPaxton | 1838 | species | var. barbatus | = het. |
Chelone mexicanaSessé & Moc. | 1894 | species | var. barbatus | = het. nom. illeg. |
Elmigera barbata(Cav.) Rchb. ex Steud. | 1840 | species | P. barbatus | ≡ hom. |
Penstemon angustifoliusC.Fraser ex Pursh | 1813 | species | var. barbatus | = het. not validly publ. |
Penstemon barbatus var. carneusLindl. | 1839 | variety | var. barbatus | = het. |
Penstemon barbatus f. flaviflorus(M.E.Jones) Pennell | 1945 | form | var. barbatus | = het. |
Penstemon barbatus var. puberulusA.Gray | 1859 | variety | var. barbatus | = het. |
Penstemon barbatus subsp. torreyi(Benth.) D.D.Keck | 1939 | subspecies | var. torreyi | ≡ hom. |
Penstemon barbatus f. torreyi(Benth.) Voss | 1894 | form | var. torreyi | ≡ hom. |
Penstemon barbatus subsp. trichander(A.Gray) D.D.Keck | 1939 | subspecies | var. trichander | ≡ hom. |
Penstemon coccineusEngelm. | 1848 | species | var. barbatus | = het. |
Penstemon coccineus var. filifoliusA.Gray | 1886 | variety | var. barbatus | = het. |
Penstemon coeruleusTorr. | 1827 | species | var. barbatus | = het. nom. illeg. |
Penstemon flaviflorusM.E.Jones | 1908 | species | var. barbatus | = het. |
Penstemon formosus(J.Thomps.) Trautv. | 1839 | species | var. barbatus | = het. |
Penstemon torreyiBenth. | 1846 | species | var. torreyi | ≡ hom. |
Penstemon trichander(A.Gray) Rydb. | 1906 | species | var. trichander | ≡ hom. |
Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym ; = heterotypic synonym |
One of the English common names for Penstemon barbatus is golden beard penstemon, referring to the gold colored hairs inside the flowers. It is also known as scarlet penstemon, red penstemon, and scarlet bugler. The name hummingbird flower is also used for this species, though this name is also applied to many other plants. In Spanish-speaking New Mexico and southern Colorado, it is called varita de San Jose – "St. Joseph's staff". [3]
Penstemon barbatus grows in the Four Corners states, Texas, and in much of Mexico. [9] In Colorado it grows largely in southern mountain counties, only being found as far north as Garfield County. The native range of the species in Utah does not go so far north with it reaching to Wayne and San Juan counties. Only the southeastern quarter of New Mexico lacks reports of the species and it grows in much of Arizona. Most of the range of P. barbatus in Texas is in the counties in the Big Bend region and to the north in the state's far west. [10]
This species is very common in the northern parts of Mexico. In the northwest it grow in two of four states, Sinaloa and Sonora. While in the northeast it grows in every state including, Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, and Tamaulipas. In the central highlands it grows in both Mexico City and the larger State of Mexico as well as the three other states of Morelos, Puebla, and Tlaxcala. It also grows in the gulf state of Veracruz. It becomes much less widespread in the south with it only reported in Chiapas in the southeast and in Jalisco, Michoacán, and Oaxaca in the southwest. [9]
The variety barbatus is associated with piñon–juniper woodlands, ponderosa pine forests and Douglas-fir forests in the southern parts of their ranges, and with Gambel oak, usually at elevations of 1,200 to 3,000 meters (3,900 to 9,800 ft), but occasionally as high as 3,400 meters (11,200 ft). [11] Similarly, var. torreyi is associated with all but the piñon–juniper woodlands, but additionally grows in spruce-fir woodland and montane meadows at elevations of 1,800 to 3,200 meters (5,900 to 10,500 ft). [12] Variety trichander is only associated with piñon–juniper woodlands and birch-maple woodlands at elevations of 1,600 to 2,200 meters (5,200 to 7,200 ft). [13]
In 1992 NatureServe evaluated Penstemon barbatus as secure (G5) at the global level. They have not evaluated the species at the state level. [1]
The Zuni people rub the chewed root of the torreyi subspecies over the rabbit stick to ensure success in the hunt. [14]
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 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 barnebyi is a species of penstemon known by the common names White River Valley beardtongue and Barneby's beardtongue. It is native to the mountain and basin territory of central western Nevada, where it grows in sagebrush and woodland; there is also one occurrence just over the California border.
Penstemon bicolor is a species of penstemon known by the common name pinto penstemon. It is native to the desert mountains and valleys of southern Nevada, eastern California, and western Arizona, where it grows in scrub, woodland, and other local habitat. It is a perennial herb which may exceed one meter in maximum height.
Penstemon calcareus is a species of penstemon known by the common name limestone penstemon. It is native to California, where it is known from the deserts of central San Bernardino County, as well as the Death Valley area, where its distribution extends just over the border into Nevada. It grows in scrub and woodland, often on limestone substrates.
Penstemon centranthifolius is a species of penstemon known by the common name scarlet bugler. It is native to California and parts of Mexico, where it grows in many types of dry habitat from coast to desert, such as chaparral and oak woodland.
Penstemon cinicola is a species of penstemon known by the common name ash penstemon. It is native to northeastern California and southern Oregon, where it grows in forests and plateau habitat.
Penstemon clevelandii is a species of penstemon known by the common name Cleveland penstemon. It is native to southern California and Baja California, where it grows in mountain and desert habitat such as scrub, woodland, and chaparral.
Penstemon deustus is a species of penstemon known by the common names hotrock penstemon and scabland penstemon. It is native to much of the northwestern United States from the Pacific Northwest to Wyoming, where it grows in many types of forest and open plateau habitat, often on soils heavy in volcanic rock or on limestone outcrops.
Penstemon canescens is a species of penstemon in the family Plantaginaceae. P. canescens is known by the common names gray beardtongue or Appalachian beardtongue. It is native to woodlands, forest edges, and roadsides of the southeastern United States and flowers May through July. It is a perennial herb producing stems reaching 80 centimeters in maximum height.
Penstemon cyaneus is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common names blue penstemon and dark blue penstemon. It is native to the western United States, where it is widespread in Idaho and also found in parts of Montana and Wyoming.
Penstemon davidsonii is a species of penstemon known by the common name Davidson's penstemon, honoring Dr. George Davidson. It is native to western North America.
Penstemon comarrhenus is a perennial plant in the plantain family (Plantaginaceae) found in the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States.
Penstemon cyanocaulis, the bluestem penstemon or bluestem beardtongue, is a perennial plant in the plantain family (Plantaginaceae) found in the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States.
Penstemon brevisepalus, commonly known as short-sepaled beardtongue, is an herbaceous plant in the plantain family. It is a perennial that produces pale lavender flowers in late spring.
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 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 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.
Penstemon crandallii, also known as Crandall's penstemon, is a species of penstemon that grows in western Colorado and small parts of New Mexico and Utah. It is a low growing plant with blue to purple flowers.
Penstemon ophianthus, the coiled anther penstemon, is a species of small perennial plant in the plantain family. It has very noticeable dark violet lines on its flowers over a lighter blue-lavender color. The species grows in the plateaus and canyon lands of western Colorado and New Mexico, northern Arizona, and southern Utah.