Species Identification

Interested in the identification of penstemons? Please select a species then click on submit:

Attribute	The current selection is Penstemon_breviculus
Classification	Penstemon Penstemon Cristati
General	Short Penstemon [syn: P. jamesii subsp. breviculus 1938] Blooms: May and June.
Anther	0.6-1.0 mm long, opening the full length and peltate-explanate (flattened shield-shape) essentially smooth.
Staminode	Included to reaching the orifice, densely golden-yellow-bearded, fertile stamens included.
Leaves	Mostly basal, 3.5-7 cm (1 ½-2 ¾”) long & 3-12 mm (1/8-1/2”) wide, linear to narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate, obtuse or rounded, entire or few-toothed, the basal ones usually somewhat broader, narrowing to a petiolar base, the cauline ones stemless and clasping.
Stems	Perennial herb, 0.8-2 dm (3-8”) tall, stems erect or ascending 1 to few from a thick, sometimes branched caudex, this surmounting a tap root; herbage retrorsely puberulent (fuzz pointed backwards).
Inflorescense	The thyrse 4-11 cm (1 ½-4 ¼”) long, the cymes with short stems glandular-pubescent (tacky, hairy).
Corolla	Tiny, 10-15 mm (3/8-1/2”) long, dark blue to purple with dark violet-purple guide-lines, tubular-funnelform, lobes more or less spreading, glandular-pubescent externally, the palate yellow-white-bearded.
Flower Color
Calyx	5-7 mm (to ¼”) long, segments lanceolate, acute, glandular-pubescent, the edges somewhat ragged.
Habitat	Sandy, gravelly or clay soils on open sagebrush hillsides and pinyon-juniper woodlands, 1600-2000 m (5300-6700’) elev.
Range	South Grand Co., and San Juan Co., UT, Montezuma Co., CO and San Juan Co., NM.