Penstemon calcareus | |
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Blooming in Death Valley National Park | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Plantaginaceae |
Genus: | Penstemon |
Species: | P. calcareus |
Binomial name | |
Penstemon calcareus | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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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 calcareus has stems that grow to between 5 and 35 centimeters (2 and 14 in) tall that grow directly upward from the base of the plant or grow outwards as short distance and then curving to grow upwards. [3] They are herbaceous and covered in fine, backwards pointing hairs that give the stems a gray appearance like being covered in dust. The tops of the stems are densely covered in glands. [4] The plant grows perennially from a woody caudex at ground level. [3]
It has both cauline and basal leaves, ones attached to the stems and those that grow directly from the base of the plant, that are somewhat leathery and have the same backwards pointing hairs as the stems. The basal leaves and the lower cauline leaves are attached to the plant by petioles and measure 1.5 to 5.5 centimeters long and 0.6 to 2.5 cm wide. Their shape may be elliptic to broadly ovate with a tapered base and either faint serrations or a smooth edge. Further up the stem the leaves are lanceolate to oblanceolate and longer, 2.5–7.5 cm long. These leaves also lack petioles and instead have their base clasping the main stem. [3]
The inflorescence produces bright pink to purplish tubular or funnel-shaped flowers between 1.3 and 1.7 centimeters long. [4] The flower has a glandular outer surface and a staminode 7 to 9 millimeter long that covered with golden hairs. [3]
Penstemon calcareus was scientifically described in 1903 by Townshend Stith Brandegee. It has one heterotypic synonym, Penstemon desertorum that was published by Marcus E. Jones in 1908. [2]
Penstemon calcareus is known by the common names limestone penstemon or limestone beardtongue. [5] [3]
The range of limestone penstemon includes two Californian counties, Inyo and San Bernardino, and also Esmeralda County, Nevada. [3] Most of its range is in California with one just one population in Nevada discovered in Death Valley National Park in 2003. Its range is spread out over 20,000 to 200,000 square kilometers, but only has a few populations. [1] In this area it grows on mountains within the Mojave Desert at elevations of 1,200 to 2,000 meters (3,900 to 6,600 ft) above sea level. [3]
It will often grow in limestone crevices and rocky slopes. It is associated with pinyon–juniper woodlands and Joshua tree scrublands. [4]
The conservation organization NatureServe evaluated Penstemon calcareus in 2010 as imperiled at a global level (G2). They found it to have a long term decline in numbers of 30 to 70%. [1]
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 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 caesius, commonly known as the San Bernardino penstemon, is a low growing species of flowering plant. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains, as well as the southern mountains of the Sierra Nevada. It is a member of the flora on rocky slopes and in coniferous forests and alpine habitat in the mountains.
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 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 eatonii is a species of flowering plant in the genus Penstemon, known by the common name firecracker penstemon. It is native to the Western United States from Southern California to the Rocky Mountains. It grows in many types of desert, woodland, forest, and open plateau habitat.
Penstemon floridus is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common names Panamint penstemon and rose penstemon.
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 franklinii, or Franklin penstemon, is a plant species endemic to Utah, United States, known only from Cedar Valley in Iron County. It grows in grasslands and in sagebrush communities.
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 cobaea is a flowering plant in the plantain family, commonly known as Cobaea beardtongue, prairie penstemon or foxglove penstemon. The plant is native to the central United States, primarily the Great Plains from Nebraska to Texas, with additional populations in the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas. There are also populations reported in the southwestern United States as well as in Illinois and Ohio, but these appear to be introductions.
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 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 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.