Penstemon richardsonii Douglas ex Lindl.
Richardson's Beardtongue (cutleaf beardtongue; Shrubby Penstemon)
Plantaginaceae (Mare's-tail family)
(Previously in Scrophulariaceae)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Ryan Batten     (Photo ID #66787)


Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Penstemon richardsonii
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SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC

Penstemon richardsonii var. richardsonii

Species Information

General:
Perennial herb, shrubby at the base, from a stout taproot; stems usually numerous, erect, 20-80 cm tall, brittle, minutely hairy and also glandular-hairy in the inflorescence.
Leaves:
Opposite, unstalked or the lower short-stalked, lance-oblong, jaggedly toothed to irregularly pinnately cleft, to 7 cm long, smooth to minutely frosty-hairy on the upper surface.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a narrow terminal raceme or open branched panicle, of several to many short-stalked flowers; corollas magenta to rose-pink, tubular, 2-3.5 cm long, glandular-hairy on the outside, smooth within or with a few, long white hairs near the mouth, distinctly 2-lipped, the lower lip striped within; calyces 4-9 mm long, 5-lobed, the lobes lanceolate to egg-shaped, green or bluish, usually unequal and entire; fertile stamens 4, the anthers horseshoe-shaped, fringed with hairs on the sutures; sterile stamen short-exserted, long-bearded at its scarcely expanded tip.
Fruits:
Capsules, 5-8 mm long; seeds numerous, about 1 mm long.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat and Range

Dry rocky or gravelly hillsides and roadcuts in the steppe zone; infrequent in SC BC; S to OR.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia