Penstemon crandallii | |
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Penstemon crandallii var. glabrescens | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Plantaginaceae |
Genus: | Penstemon |
Species: | P. crandallii |
Binomial name | |
Penstemon crandallii A.Nelson, 1899 | |
Varieties [2] | |
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Synonyms [2] | |
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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 crandallii has stems covered in fine or stiff hairs that point backwards and grow 2 to 28 centimeters long. Their direction of growth ranges all the way from fully upright to prostrate , growing along the ground. [3] Older, more woody stems, often root where they touch the soil. [4]
The leaves are in pairs on the stems attached by petioles, smaller leaf stems, to the main stem. Each leaf ranges from 2 to 47 millimeters long, though usually more than 4 mm, and 0.5 to 8 mm wide. The tips of the leaves are narrowly pointed or are mucronate, having a leaf vein that extends beyond the leaf blade in an extended tip. [3]
The inflorescences are secund , having all the flowers on one side of the stem. [4] In addition to being retrorsely hairy, having the same backwards facing hairs as the rest of the stems, the inflorescences are usually sparsely covered in glandular hairs. [3] The flowers are funnel shaped and 14 to 23 mm long. They range in color from blue to blue-purple or red-purple and are covered in glandular hairs. [4]
The largest proportion of the iridoid glycoside in Penstemon crandallii is one named plantarenaloside. The species also does not have any aucubin or its derivatives, making it chemically distinct from Penstemon teucrioides . Three well known phenylethanoid glycosides are found in its leaves, verbascoside (acteoside), leucosceptoside, and echinacoside. Two chemicals derived from verbascoside were first described from it in 1995, 2-O-acetyl-3'"-O-methylverbascoside and 2,4"-di-O-acetyl-3'"-O-methylverbascoside. [5]
Penstemon crandallii was scientifically described and named by Aven Nelson in 1899. [2]
There are five accepted varieties of Penstemon crandallii. [2]
This variety was initially describe as a subspecies by the penstemon expert David D. Keck in 1937. It was reclassified as a variety by Noel H. Holmgren in 1979. [6] It grows in the La Sal Mountains in Grand County, Utah. [7]
The autonymic variety of the species is only known from the states of Utah and Colorado. [8] In Colorado it grows in the central mountains and western portions of the state. Towards the north central parts of the state it grows in Routt County and then south into the central mountains in Grand, Gilpin, Park, Teller, and Chaffee counties. To the west it grows from Garfield and Eagle counties in the north south through Mesa, Delta, Gunnison, and Montrose counties. In the southwest corner of the state it grows in Montezuma, Dolores, Archuleta, Ouray, and Hinsdale counties. Across the boarder it is only found in San Juan County, Utah. [9]
The botanist Francis W. Pennell described a species in 1920 which he named Penstemon glabrescens. This was reevaluated as a variety by Craig Carl Freeman in 2017 after having been described as Penstemon coloradoensis var. glabrescens and as Penstemon crandallii subsp. glabrescens in 1937. [10] Though accepted, it is only very slightly different than var. crandallii. It grows in two states with most of its documented range in Colorado and a smaller portion in New Mexico. In Colorado it grows as far north as Delta and Fremont counties and then south into Custer, Saguache, Mineral, Dolores, Conejos, Archuleta, La Plata, and Montezuma counties. It is only found in Rio Arriba and Taos counties in New Mexico. [11]
This variety was described as Penstemon procumbens by the botanist Edward Lee Greene in 1901. It was described as a subspecies by Keck in 1937 and then as a variety in 2017 by Craig Freeman. [12] It only grows in the state of Colorado and is definitely known only from Carbon Peak and Kebler Pass in the West Elk Mountains. [13]
In 1937 Aven Nelson described a species which he named Penstemon ramaleyi. In 2017 this was also described as a variety by Freeman. [14] It is only know from three Colorado counties in the southwest of the state, Hinsdale, Mineral, and Saguache. It is very much like var. glabrescens, but has long spreading hairs on the stems and very often on the leaves as well. [15]
The species name of crandallii was selected to honor Charles Spencer Crandall, a professor at what eventually became Colorado State University. [4] Similarly, in English it is know by the common name Crandall's penstemon. [16]
The range of Penstemon crandallii extends over much of western Colorado into portions of New Mexico and Utah. In Colorado it grows as far north as Routt County and south through the central mountains and west. [9] The native range in Utah is just two eastern counties, Grand County and San Juan County. [7] [9] Likewise it grows in just Rio Arriba and Taos counties in New Mexico. [11] The variety glabrescens has the widest elevation range, from 1700 to as high as 3400 meters. [11]
It is associated with sagebrush steppe, rocky scree, pinyon–juniper woodlands, ponderosa pine forests, and with scrub oak. [11] [13]
In 1992 NatureServe evaluated Penstemon crandallii and rated it as apparently secure (G4). It did not rate the species at the state level. [1]
The penstemon cultivar 'Blue Lips' was created by crossing Penstemon crandallii with Penstemon linariodes var. coloradensis. [17]
Penstemon barbatus, known by the common names golden-beard penstemon, and beardlip penstemon, is a flowering plant native to the western United States.
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 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 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 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 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.
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 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 caespitosus, commonly known as mat penstemon, is a summer blooming perennial flower in the large Penstemon genus. It is a widespread plant from near timberline to the foothills in the Southern Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau in North America. It is noted for its ground hugging growth habit and as a plant used in xeriscape and rock gardening.
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 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.