| Penstemon rostriflorus | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Plantaginaceae |
| Genus: | Penstemon |
| Species: | P. rostriflorus |
| Binomial name | |
| Penstemon rostriflorus | |
| Synonyms | |
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Penstemon rostriflorus is a species of penstemon known as beak-flowered penstemon or beaked penstemon from the southwestern United States and Baja California.
The beak-flowered penstemon resembles a small shrub and has stems that are woody near the base with many leaves. [2] The stems can reach 24 to 100 centimeters (9.5 to 39.5 in), but usually are taller than 30 cm (12 in). [3] The stems can be hairless or vaguely hairy with some plants hairless at near the base and covered in glandular hairs towards the ends. [4]
Almost all its leaves are attached to the stems, [4] though they are more numerous lower down on woody parts of the plant. [2] The few basal leaves and the lower ones on the stems are 2–5.2 cm (0.8–2.0 in) long, but just 3–11 millimeters wide with a widely angled point. [3] They are oblanceolate, like a reversed spear head in shape with the wider portion above the midpoint, and have a tapered base that is almost like a leaf stalk. [5] Higher up on the stems the leaves have the same lower limit but can reach lengths of 7 cm (2.8 in) and are 2–14 mm in width. [3] They are lanceolate, like a spear head with the widest part nearer the base, to nearly like a blade grass with the base of the leaf attached directly to the main stalk. [5]
The upper part of its stems is an inflorescence with branches called a thyrse measuring 3–28 cm (1.2–11.0 in), though usually more than 6 cm (2.4 in). It will have three to twelve groups of flowers. [3] Lower down in the inflorescence the flowers are on longer branches with two to five flowers. Higher up flowers become single on shorter branches. [5] Flower buds are green-yellow with red ends. It has bright scarlet flowers with projecting lobes resembling a beak at the top that are notched towards the end. [2]
Penstemon rostriflorus was scientifically described and named in 1860 by Albert Kellogg. [6] However, the species was usually identified as Penstemon bridgesii in older sources. [2] The fact that Kellogg's name had priority was noticed by Frank Crosswhite and published in the 1984 fourth volume of the Intermountain Flora. [7] It is classified in the genus Penstemon within the family Plantaginaceae. It has no varieties, but has been described as a variety of one of it three synonyms. [6]
| Name | Year | Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penstemon bridgesiiA.Gray | 1868 | species | = het. |
| Penstemon bridgesii var. amplexicaulisMonnet | 1915 | variety | = het. |
| Penstemon bridgesii var. rostriflorus(Kellogg) Schelle | 1903 | variety | ≡ hom., nom. superfl. |
| Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym ; = heterotypic synonym | |||
Kellogg named it rostriflorus meaning "beak flower" in Botanical Latin. [4] It is similarly known by the common names beak-flowered penstemon or beaked penstemon. [8] [9] It is also known as beak-flowered beardtongue or beaked beardtongue. [4] Like other red flowered hummingbird adapted penstemons such as Penstemon labrosus it is called scarlet penstemon. [9] [10] Older names still used include bridge penstemon and Bridge's penstemon. [11] [12]
Beaked penstemon is native to the southwestern United States and Baja California in northwestern Mexico. [13] They grow on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada in California and south in the Transverse Ranges, the Peninsular Ranges, and the San Jacinto Mountains. [7] [14]
