| Penstemon fruticosus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Plantaginaceae |
| Genus: | Penstemon |
| Species: | P. fruticosus |
| Binomial name | |
| Penstemon fruticosus | |
| Varieties [2] | |
| |
Penstemon fruticosus, the bush penstemon or shrubby penstemon, is a species of penstemon native to the Pacific Northwest of North America.
Penstemon fruticosus is a semi-evergreen shrub or subshrub, a plant that is partly woody especially towards its base, that usually takes the form of a spreading tuft. Its stems may be 13 to 40 centimeters (5 to 16 in) tall. [3] Usually several stems will grow directly upwards or outward a short distance before curving to grow upwards from a branched, woody caudex at the base of the plant. The stems may be glabrous or puberulent, hairless or covered in minute, stiff hairs. [4]
Each stem will have two to six pairs of leaves attached on opposite sides with those towards the end clearly smaller than ones towards the base. [3] The leaves are normally smooth and glossy and those on stems without flowers are usually better developed than ones on flowering stems. [4] Leaf length ranges from 0.5 to 6 centimeters, though ordinarily less than 5 cm (2 in). Their width is 3 to 12 millimeters. [3] They may be lanceolate, oblanceolate, or elliptic; shaped like a spear head, reversed, or with sides like two ellipses. The end of the leaf may be narrow or bluntly pointed, seldom the leaf vein extends out into an extended mucronate tip. [4]
The inflorescences have few flowers all facing one direction away from the stem. [4] Each flowering stem will have two to seven groups of flowers with a pair of cymes each with one flower. As the base of each group there will be a pair of lanceolate bracts, 4–16 mm long. The flowers have fused petals in a funnel shape 2.8–4.8 cm in length. [3] The color of the flowers is variously described as pale lavender, pale blue-violet, blue-lavender, or light purplish. [5] [6] The outside of the flower is hairless, but the top interior of the tube is covered in white hairs. The staminode does not reach out of the flower opening and is sparsely to densely covered in yellow hairs. [7]
The species was scientifically described and named Gerardia fruticosa in 1813 by the botanist Frederick Traugott Pursh. In 1892 it was moved to the current name of Penstemon fruticosus by Edward Lee Greene. [2]
Penstemon fruticosus has three accepted varieties: [2]
This is the autonymic variety of the species. [8] It is the most widespread of the three varieties. [9]
In 1829 David Douglas described a species he named Penstemon scouleri. It was reclassified as a variety of this species in 1959 by Arthur Cronquist. [10]
The botanist David D. Keck described a subspecies he named Penstemon fruticosus subsp. serratus. It also was changed to be a variety by Cronquist in 1951. [11]
It also has 17 synonyms of the species or one of its varieties. [2] [8] [10] [11]
| Name | Year | Rank | Synonym of: | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apentostera secundifloraRaf. | 1837 | species | var. fruticosus | = het. |
| Chelone scouleriDouglas ex Lindl. | 1829 | species | var. scouleri | = het. pro syn. |
| Dasanthera fruticosa(Pursh) Raf. | 1837 | species | P. fruticosus | ≡ hom. |
| Gerardia fruticosaPursh | 1813 | species | P. fruticosus | ≡ hom. |
| Penstemon crassifoliusLindl. | 1838 | species | var. fruticosus | = het. |
| Penstemon fruticosus subsp. scouleri(Douglas) Pennell & D.D.Keck | 1951 | subspecies | var. scouleri | ≡ hom. |
| Penstemon fruticosus subsp. serratusD.D.Keck | 1951 | subspecies | var. serratus | ≡ hom. |
| Penstemon fruticosus var. crassifolius(Lindl.) Krautter | 1908 | variety | var. fruticosus | = het. |
| Penstemon lewisiiBenth. | 1846 | species | var. fruticosus | = het. |
| Penstemon menziesiiHook. | 1838 | species | P. fruticosus | ≡ hom. nom. superfl. |
| Penstemon menziesii var. crassifolius(Lindl.) Schelle | 1903 | variety | var. fruticosus | = het. |
| Penstemon menziesii var. lewisii(Benth.) A.Gray | 1862 | variety | var. fruticosus | = het. |
| Penstemon menziesii var. peduncularis(Nutt. ex Benth.) Schelle | 1903 | variety | var. fruticosus | = het. |
| Penstemon menziesii var. scouleri(Douglas) A.Gray | 1862 | variety | var. scouleri | ≡ hom. |
| Penstemon menziesii f. scouleri(Douglas) Voss | 1894 | form | var. scouleri | ≡ hom. |
| Penstemon peduncularisNutt. ex Benth. | 1846 | species | var. fruticosus | = het. |
| Penstemon scouleriDouglas | 1829 | species | var. scouleri | ≡ hom. |
| Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym ; = heterotypic synonym | ||||
In English it is known by the common names of shrubby penstemon or bush penstemon. [4]
The species is native to the Pacific Northwest of North America from Oregon to British Columbia, and east to the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming, Montana, and Alberta. [12] In Canada it grows in southwestern Alberta and the interior of British Columbia. [3] In the Rocky Mountains it grows in Idaho and Montana, but only reaches as far south as Park County, Wyoming in the state's northwestern corner. In Washington and Oregon it is found in many areas from the eastern side to the Cascades. [12] It grows at elevations of up to 3,000 meters (9,800 ft). [9]
It grows on cliffs, rock outcrops, gravelly slopes, in forest openings, and along roadcuts. [13] It is associated with sagebrush and with juniper woodlands. [7]
Shrubby penstemon was evaluated by NatureServe in 2016 and rated as secure (G5). They also rated it as secure (S5) in British Columbia and as apparently secure (S4) in Montana. In Alberta and Wyoming they rated it as vulnerable (S3), but have not evaluated it in Idaho, Washington, or Oregon. [1]
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 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 filiformis is an uncommon species of Penstemon known by the common name threadleaf penstemon. It is endemic to the Klamath Mountains of northern California, where it grows in forest and woodland, often on serpentine soils.
Penstemon floridus is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common names Panamint penstemon and rose penstemon.
Penstemon fruticiformis is a species of penstemon known by the common name Death Valley penstemon. It is native to the western United States, where it is found growing in rocky scrub, woodlands, deserts and mountains of eastern California and western Nevada. It is known from scattered occurrences around Death Valley, and only one of the two varieties occurs on the Nevada side of the border.
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 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 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 moffatii, commonly called Moffat penstemon, is a flowering plant from the mesas and canyons of western Colorado and eastern Utah.
Media related to Penstemon fruticosus at Wikimedia Commons
