Penstemon whippleanus

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Penstemon whippleanus
Penstemon whippleanus.jpg
Penstemon whippleanus
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Penstemon
Species:
P. whippleanus
Binomial name
Penstemon whippleanus
Synonyms [1]
  • Penstemon arizonicus A.Heller
  • Penstemon glaucus var. stenosepalus A.Gray
  • Penstemon pallescens Osterh.
  • Penstemon stenosepalus(A.Gray) Howell

Penstemon whippleanus, commonly known as dusky penstemon, [2] dusky beardtongue, [3] Whipple's penstemon, [4] or Whipple's beardtongue, [5] is a summer blooming perennial flower in the large Penstemon genus. It is a widespread plant within the hemiboreal forests of the Rocky Mountains in North America. It is noted for the large deep purple-red flowers and a preference for high mountain elevations. [4]

Contents

Description

Detail of P. whippleanus in bloom showing highly glandular petals P whippleanus Closeup Mogollon Mtns Bursum Road Aug 1 2007.jpg
Detail of P. whippleanus in bloom showing highly glandular petals

This species is distinctive in its range and mountain habitat for the size and color of its flowers and the height of its flowering stems, usually 20–65 cm. [4] Though it has been recorded as growing up to 100 cm in height in unusually favorable conditions. [6] [7]

Like most members of its genus, Penstemon whippleanus is an evergreen perennial plant. They have both leaves at the base of the plant (basal leaves) and in pairs on opposite sides of their flowering stems. The basal leaves grow on short stems, are smooth without hairs, but not leathery. Each basal leaf is about 40–90 mm long and 10–30 mm wide with a generally blade ovate to lanceolate shape. The leaves on the flowering stems are generally narrower and shorter, 25–60 mm in length and 3–15 mm, with a blade lanceolate to oblanceolate shape. [5]

The flowering stem are tall and generally straight with multiple flowers clustered at nodes just above each pair of leaves. The flowering stem grow indeterminately [5] and are smooth (glabrous) below and glandular and hairy above. [7] Each flower cluster has two groupings (a cyme) with 2-4 flowers, 4-8 in total. The bracts near attachment point are lanceolate. [5]

The flowers are large, usually 20–27 mm in length and occasionally up to 30 mm in length with a width of 8–10 mm at the mouth. [5] The flowers are most often a gothic black purple, but also can be violet, blue, and creamy white. [4] The white form of the flower is mostly found in the mountains in the Great Basin and on Colorado's Grand Mesa and does not have an intermediate form with darker specimens. [8] [9] The flowers have fine lines inside the mouth of the flower that serve as nectar guides, white or lavender colored in dark forms of the flower and purple in light colored forms. [5] The lower lip of the flower tube also has noticeable long white hairs. [4]

Penstemon whippleanus seed capsules P whippleanus capsule s Mogollon Mtns Bursum Road Aug 1 2009.jpg
Penstemon whippleanus seed capsules

The seed capsules are rounded with four lobes and stretching upwards to a sharp tip at the top of each lobe. Split open each capsule holds numerous seeds. The seeds require a 6 to 12 week cold stratification for good germination. [10]

Taxonomy

Copenhagen University Botanical Garden Diao Zhong Liu Shu Penstemon whippleanus -Ge Ben Ha Gen Da Xue Zhi Wu Yuan Copenhagen University Botanical Garden- (36940926541).jpg
Copenhagen University Botanical Garden

Penstemon whippleanus was named and described by the famous American botanist Asa Gray in Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1862. [11] [1] He described it from a specimen collected by Dr. John Milton Bigelow made in October 1853 in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico. [12] He named it in honor of the leader of the expedition, Lt. Amiel Weeks Whipple. In the same issue he inadvertently described another specimen of P. whippleanus collected in Colorado by Charles Christopher Parry as Penstemon glaucus var. stenosepalus. [13] [14] In 1899 another collection was incorrectly described as a new species, Penstemon arizonicus, by Amos Arthur Heller in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. [15] American botanist Thomas J. Howell reclassified Asa Gray's variety of P. glaucus as Penstemon stenosepalus in his book A flora of northwest America in 1901. [16] Another specimen from Rabbit Ears Pass Colorado was described as Penstemon pallescens by George E. Osterhout in 1930. [17] [18]

In 1920 Francis W. Pennell reevaluated Asa Gray's identification of the specimen collected near the headwaters of Clear Creek as P. glaucus var. stenosephalus and Howell's description of it as P. stenosephalus and instead identified it as P. whippleanus despite the color variations across its range. [19] The respected Penstemon expert David D. Keck agreed with this in his article "Studies in Penstemon VIII" published in 1945 and additionally reevaluated the identification of P. arizonicus and P. pallescens as species, establishing their currently accepted status as synonyms for P. whippleanus. [20]

Habitat

Near the Lofty Lake, High Uinta, Utah 2016.07.23 11.53.36 IMG 7443 - Flickr - andrey zharkikh.jpg
Near the Lofty Lake, High Uinta, Utah

Penstemon whippleanus grows primarily in the subalpine or subarctic biome from 2500 – 3600 meters with occasional populations above timberline [8] or in foothills as low as 1825 meters. [10] The plants are generally found on open slopes, meadows, rocky ledges, mountain tundra, and openings in woodlands [21] [4] with a noted preference for rocky soils. [22]

Distribution

Penstemon whippleanus is widely distributed in the central Rocky Mountains of North America. It is recorded by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS database (PLANTS) as growing in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. However, there are no county level distributions for Montana recorded in the PLANTS database. [6]

Cultivation

Dusky penstemons are planted in gardens as an ornamental plant for their large and striking flowers that appear in summer at high elevations or as early as April in low elevations. [23] It is very winter hardy, recorded as surviving in USDA zones 4-8 and a UK hardiness of H4. [24] [25] In garden conditions they grow in neutral to acid soils and spread rapidly; they are also tolerant of propagation by division. [23]

In the garden they are, like most members of the genus, drought tolerant but intolerant of poorly draining soils or waterlogged conditions. They are more tolerant of moisture than most of the genus. [21] They are not demanding of rich soils or fertilization, but do produce more flowers in richer soils. [22] Because of its native habitat P. whippleanus is particularly suited to higher elevation gardens. [26]

Dusky penstemon grows in full sun and partial shade, but are healthier in warmer climates with afternoon shade. They are resistant to browsing by deer, [25] but young plants in garden settings are often damaged by eleworms, slugs, or snails. [24] They are also vulnerable in garden settings to powdery mildew, rust, leaf spots, and Southern blight. [25] Their seeds require cold and moist stratification of three months for good germination rates or to be planted outside over the winter with a similar period of cold conditions. [23]

Related Research Articles

<i>Penstemon</i> Genus of plants

Penstemon, the beardtongues, is a large genus of roughly 280 species of flowering plants native mostly to the Nearctic, but with a few species also found in the North American portion of the Neotropics. It is the largest genus of flowering plants endemic to North America. As well as being the scientific name, penstemon is also widely used as a common name for all Penstemon species alongside beardtongues.

<i>Penstemon palmeri</i> Species of flowering plant

Penstemon palmeri, known by the common name Palmer's penstemon, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the genus Penstemon that is notable for its showy, rounded flowers, and for being one of the few scented penstemons. The plant, in the family Plantaginaceae, is named after the botanist Edward Palmer.

<i>Microseris</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae

Microseris is a genus of plants in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae, plants that often called composites. They are native to North America, South America, Australia, and New Zealand.

<i>Rubus deliciosus</i> Berry and plant

Rubus deliciosus is a North American species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae, native to the United States. Common names include the delicious raspberry, boulder raspberry, Rocky Mountain raspberry or snowy bramble.

<i>Geum triflorum</i> Species of flowering plant

Geum triflorum, commonly known as prairie smoke, old man's whiskers, torchflower, three-sisters, long-plumed purple avens, lion's beard, or three-flowered avens, is a spring-blooming perennial herbaceous plant of the Rosaceae family. It is a hemiboreal continental climate species that is widespread in colder and drier environments of western North America, although it does occur in isolated populations as far east as New York and Ontario. It is particularly known for the long feathery plumes on the seed heads that have inspired many of the regional common names and aid in wind dispersal of its seeds.

<i>Penstemon strictus</i> Species of flowering plant

Penstemon strictus, the Rocky Mountain penstemon, is a penstemon with showy blue flowers.

<i>Penstemon spectabilis</i> Species of flowering plant

Penstemon spectabilis is a species of penstemon known by the common name showy penstemon or showy beardtongue. It is native to southern California and Baja California, where it grows in the chaparral, scrub, and woodlands of the coastal mountain ranges.

<i>Penstemon thompsoniae</i> Species of shrub

Penstemon thompsoniae, Thompson's beardtongue, is a low perennial plant endemic to the southwestern United States, where it grows in dry shrublands, woodlands and forests. It is considered a species of conservation concern in California.

<i>Pulsatilla nuttalliana</i> Species of flowering plant

Pulsatilla nuttalliana, known as American pasqueflower, prairie pasqueflower, prairie crocus, or simply pasqueflower, is a flowering plant native to much of North America, from the western side of Lake Michigan, to northern Canada in the Northwest Territories, south to New Mexico in the southwestern United States. Pasqueflower is the provincial flower of Manitoba and the state flower of South Dakota.

<i>Oenothera harringtonii</i> Species of flowering plant

Oenothera harringtonii is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common names Arkansas Valley evening primrose and Colorado Springs evening primrose. It is endemic to the state of Colorado in the United States.

<i>Penstemon eriantherus</i> Species of flowering plant

Penstemon eriantherus is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common names fuzzytongue penstemon and crested beardtongue. It is native to western North America, where it occurs in western Canada and the northwestern and north-central United States.

<i>Claytonia rosea</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia rosea, commonly called Rocky Mountain spring beauty, western springbeauty or Madrean springbeauty, is a diminutive spring blooming ephemeral plant with pale pink to magenta flowers. It grows a small round tuberous root and it one of the earliest wildflowers of spring in its range. It is found in dry meadows in forests of ponderosa and Chihuahuan pines, and moist ledges of mountain slopes of the Beaver Dam Mountains of Utah, Colorado Front Range, and Sierra Madre Occidental, south and east to the Sierra Maderas del Carmen of Coahuila.

<i>Penstemon pennellianus</i> Species of flowering plant

Penstemon pennellianus, often called the Blue Mountain beardtongue or Blue Mountain penstemon, is a species of beardtongue native to Washington and Oregon.

<i>Penstemon virens</i> Species of flowering plant

Penstemon virens, commonly known as blue mist penstemon, Front Range beardtongue, or Green beardtongue, is a common Penstemon in the Front Range foothills in Colorado and Wyoming. The dainty flowers are an ornament to many rocky or sandy area within its range. It is confusingly similar to Penstemon humilis and Penstemon albertinus though the ranges of these plants do not overlap in the wild. The common name, blue mist penstemon, refers to the cloud of flowers on multiple stems facing every direction.

<i>Penstemon albidus</i> Species of flowering plant

Penstemon albidus, commonly known as white penstemon, white-flower beardtongue, or Red-Line Beardtongue is a very widespread perennial flower of the mixed-grass and shortgrass prairies. Its natural distribution is from Manitoba and Alberta in Canada to Texas and New Mexico in the United States. The bright white flowers for which they are named are quite attractive to both bees and hummingbird moths.

<i>Penstemon secundiflorus</i> Species of flowering plant

Penstemon secundiflorus, commonly known as sidebells penstemon, or orchid beardtoungue is a species of Penstemon that grows in dry forests, high plains, and scrub lands from Wyoming to Mexico. It is a herbaceous perennial plant that typically grows to a height of 20 to 50 cm and has narrow, lance-shaped leaves that are grayish-green in color. The flowers of the sidebells penstemon are tubular in shape and are arranged in a one-sided spike, with the blooms all facing the same direction, and for this reason was named "secundiflorus", which means "one-sided flowers". The flowers are most often delicate shades of orchid or lavender. It is sometimes used in xeriscaping, rock gardens, and wildflower meadows, and is well-suited to dry, sunny locations with well-drained soil.

<i>Lomatium orientale</i> Species of flowering plant

Lomatium orientale, commonly known as salt-and-pepper, eastern cous, eastern desert-parsley, eastern lomatium, white-flowered desert-parsley, oriental desert parsley or Northern Idaho biscuitroot, is a small spring blooming ephemeral plant. It grows in open habitats from the plains to foothills in western North America. It is known as one of the earliest blooming native flowers in its habitat. The species name, "orientale", is botanical Latin meaning "eastern".

<i>Penstemon ambiguus</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Penstemon auriberbis</i> Species of flowering plant

Penstemon auriberbis, commonly known as the Colorado penstemon or Colorado beardtounge is a species of Penstemon that grows in the shortgrass prairies of southern Colorado and in a few places in northern New Mexico. Although specimens were collected on the 1820 expedition by Stephen H. Long through the area, they were not scientifically described as a separate species until 1920.

<i>Penstemon caespitosus</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

References

  1. 1 2 POWO (2023). "Penstemon whippleanus A.Gray". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  2. ↑ Eaton, Heidi. "Dusky Penstemon". Project Noah. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  3. ↑ "Penstemon whippleanus - Whipple's Penstemon or Dusky Beardtongue". first-nature.com. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Denver Botanic Gardens (2018). Wildflowers of the Rocky Mountain region. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. p. 182. ISBN   9781604696448.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Freeman, Craig C. "Penstemon whippleanus A. Gray". Flora of North America. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  6. 1 2 USDA, NRCS. (2023). "Penstemon whippleanus A. Gray". The PLANTS Database. Greensboro, NC USA.: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  7. 1 2 Ackerfield, Jennifer (2015). Flora of Colorado (First ed.). Fort Worth, Texas: Botanical Research Institute of Texas Press. p. 596. ISBN   978-1-889878-45-4.
  8. 1 2 "Penstemon whippleanus". Wolfe Lab. Ohio State University. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  9. ↑ Schneider, Al. "Penstemon whippleanus". Southwest Colorado Wildflowers. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  10. 1 2 Love, Stephen. "Whipple's Penstemon in the Landscape". Western Native Plants. University of Idaho. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  11. ↑ WFO (2023). "Penstemon whippleanus A.Gray". World Flora Online. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  12. ↑ Gray, Asa (14 October 1862). "Five Hundred and Thirteenth Meeting. October 14, 1862. Monthly Meeting; Characters of Some New or Obscure Species of Plants, of Monopetalous Orders, in the Collection of the United States South Pacific Exploring Expedition under Captain Charles Wilkes, U. S. N. with Various Notes and Remarks; Additional Note on the Genus Rhytidandra; Synopsis of the Genus Pentstemon; Revision of the North American Species of the Genus. Calamagrostis, Sect. Deycuxia". Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 6: 73. doi:10.2307/20179494. JSTOR   20179494 . Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  13. ↑ WFO (2023). "Penstemon glaucus var. stenosepalus". World Flora Online. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  14. ↑ Gray, Asa (14 October 1862). ""Five Hundred and Thirteenth Meeting. October 14, 1862. Monthly Meeting; Characters of Some New or Obscure Species of Plants, of Monopetalous Orders, in the Collection of the United States South Pacific Exploring Expedition under Captain Charles Wilkes, U. S. N. with Various Notes and Remarks; Additional Note on the Genus Rhytidandra; Synopsis of the Genus Pentstemon; Revision of the North American Species of the Genus. Calamagrostis, Sect. Deycuxia". Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 6: 70. doi:10.2307/20179494. JSTOR   20179494 . Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  15. ↑ WFO (2023). "Penstemon arizonicus A.Heller". World Flora Online. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  16. ↑ WFO (2023). "Penstemon stenosepalus (A.Gray) Howell". WFO. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  17. ↑ WFO (2023). "Penstemon pallescens Osterh". WFO. World Flora Online. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  18. ↑ Osterhout, George E. (November 1930). "New Plants From Colorado". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. Torrey Botanical Society. 57 (8): 559–560. doi:10.2307/2480672. JSTOR   2480672 . Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  19. ↑ Pennell, Francis W. (1920). "Scrophulariaceae of the Central Rocky Mountain States". Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. Smithsonian Institution. 20 (9): 376–377. hdl:10088/26992?show=full.
  20. ↑ Bennett, Ralph W. (1987). Penstemon Nomenclature (2nd ed.). Eugene, Oregon: American Penstemon Society. pp. 16, 20, 24, 41, 54, 68.
  21. 1 2 Shonle, I.; Vickerman, L.G.; Klett, J.E. "Native Herbaceous Perennials for Colorado Landscapes - 7.242". Colorado State Extension. Colorado State University. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  22. 1 2 Meyer, Susan E (2009). The Plant Palette. Landscaping on the New Frontier: Waterwise Design for the Intermountain West. University Press of Colorado. p. 185. doi:10.2307/j.ctt4cgn94.12 . Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  23. 1 2 3 Lindgren, Dale T. (2003). Growing penstemons : species, cultivars, and hybrids. Haverford, PA: Infinity Pub. pp. 93–94. ISBN   0741415291.
  24. 1 2 "Penstemon whippleanus Whipple's Whipple's beardtongue Care Plant Varieties & Pruning Advice". Shoot Gardening.co.uk. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  25. 1 2 3 "Whipple's penstemon". FineGardening. Taunton Press. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  26. ↑ Henson, Y.; Langelo, L. (February 2021). "Growing Penstemons - 7.428". Colorado State Extension. Colorado State University. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
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