Penstemon eriantherus

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.[1]

Penstemon eriantherus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Penstemon
Species:
P. eriantherus
Binomial name
Penstemon eriantherus

This species is a perennial herb growing from a woody caudex and thick taproot. It branches into several stems that reach up to 40 centimeters tall. Much of the herbage is coated in gray hairs, and the inflorescence can be glandular. The oppositely arranged leaves are up to 13 centimeters long and are sometimes slightly toothed along the edges. The flower is borne in a calyx of narrow, pointed sepals. The corolla is up to 4 centimeters long with a mouth up to 1.4 centimeters wide. It is lavender to reddish or bluish purple. The lower lip and the staminode are heavily bearded with yellowish hairs.[2][3]

This plant grows on clay soils[3] in dry, open habitat.[2] In Washington it grows in plant communities dominated by antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) and Indian ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides), purple sage (Salvia dorrii) and bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata), and rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa).[4] It occurs on rocky soils in sagebrush habitat. Its ability to live in a relatively rough habitat may help it persist in disturbed areas, such as eroded trails.[5]

There are 5 varieties of this species:[6]

  • Penstemon eriantherus var. argillosus (endemic to Oregon)
  • Penstemon eriantherus var. cleburnei - Cleburn's penstemon
  • Penstemon eriantherus var. eriantherus
  • Penstemon eriantherus var. redactus - longsac penstemon
  • Penstemon eriantherus var. whitedii - Whited's penstemon (endemic to Washington)

References
  1. "Penstemon eriantherus". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  2. Penstemon eriantherus. Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. University of Washington. 2013.
  3. Crested Beardtongue (Penstemon eriantherus). Archived 2013-07-03 at the Wayback Machine Native Wildflowers of the North Dakota Grasslands. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. USGS.
  4. Penstemon eriantherus var. whitedii (Whited's penstemon). Washington Department of Natural Resources, Washington Natural Heritage Program and Bureau of Land Management. 2005.
  5. Meinke, R. J. Assessment of the genus Penstemon (Scrophulariaceae) within the Interior Columbia River Basin of Oregon and Washington. Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project. 1995.
  6. Penstemon eriantherus. USDA PLANTS Profile.
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