Penstemon scariosus is a species of flowering plant in the veronica family known by the common name plateau penstemon. It is native to Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming in the United States.
Plateau penstemons are herbaceous plants that grow 8 to 60 centimeters (3.1 to 23.6in) tall, but more typically are 16–50cm (6.3–19.7in).[4] Usually mature plants have multiple stems, but occasionally they will have just one, growing from a basal crown.[5] Normally the stems are erect or ascending , grow straight upwards or outwards slightly before curving to grow upwards, but rarely they grow along the ground.[4] They are hairless unless they have a few glandular hairs at the top of the inflorescences.[5]
Penstemon scariosus var. cyanomontanus This variety was described by Elizabeth Chase Neese (1934-2008) in 1986 and it grows in northwestern Colorado, Utah, and southern Wyoming.[8] The only specific location listed for it by the NRCS is in Uintah County, Utah.[9] In Colorado it is known from nine locations near the Utah border in Moffat County.[10] It has also been collected from southern areas of Wyoming in Uinta County and southwestern Sweetwater County.[11]
Penstemon scariosus var. jolynniae This variety was described by Mikel R. Stevens and Robert L. Johnson in 2022 and it is endemic to the state of Utah.[12] It was named for JoLynn Johnstun Stevens, the wife of one of the authors who also spotted the first specimen collected. It grows from the southern parts of the Duchesne River watershed in Duchesne County to the eastern parts of Wasatch County in the drainage of Currant Creek.[13]
Penstemon scariosus var. scariosus The autonymic variety is also limited to growing in just Utah. It also has two heterotypic synonyms, Penstemon garrettii which was also described by Pennell in 1920 and Penstemon scariosus var. garrettii, a reclassification of the species name by Noel H. Holmgren in 1984.[3] Variety garrettii is accepted by the NRCS.[14]
Names
The species name, scariosus, is Botanical Latin meaning "thin membranous texture", a reference to the plant's sepals.[15]Penstemon scariosus is known by the common nameplateau penstemon.[16] It is also called the White River penstemon,[17] however this name is applied to the disputed Penstemon albifluvis which has a Botanical Latin name meaning "White River".[18]
Cultivation
Plateau penstemon is occasionally grown in rock gardens and by penstemon enthusiasts.[15] It is most suited for gardens in more cooler climates. The seeds require a long period of as much as 16weeks of cold-moist stratification.[19] Plants can also be maintained by being divided after the end of flowering when they form new shoots. The crown is cut apart so that each new shoot has a section of root and then replanted.[15]
Jennings, William F. (1997). Bargen, Eleanor Von; Denham, Miriam L.; Steinkamp, Myrna; Coles, Janet; Richards, Velma A.; Martin, Susan S. (eds.). Rare Plants of Colorado (Seconded.). Helena, Montana; Estes Park, Colorado: Falcon Press; Rocky Mountain Nature Association in coopeartion with the Colorado Native Plant Society. ISBN978-1-56044-529-6. OCLC36001408. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
Welsh, Stanley L.; Atwood, N. Duane; Goodrich, Sherel; Higgins, Larry C. (1987). A Utah Flora. Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs, No. 9 (Firsted.). Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University. JSTOR23377658. OCLC9986953694. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
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