E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Penstemon fruticosus (Pursh) Greene var. fruticosus
shrubby penstemon (bush penstemon)
Plantaginaceae (Mare's-tail family)
(Previously in Scrophulariaceae)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Thayne Tuason  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #76342)

E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Penstemon fruticosus var. fruticosus
Click here to view our interactive map and legend
Details about map content are available here
Click on the map dots to view record details.

Species Information

Click on the image below to view an expanded illustration for this species.



General:
Low shrubs or sub-shrubs, 15-40 cm tall; stems much-branched, ascending to erect, often reddish and brittle, smooth to minutely hairy on new growth and glandular-hairy in the inflorescence.
Leaves:
Mostly opposite, more or less evergreen, smooth, primary leaves tending to be concentrated toward the base and on short sterile shoots, short-stalked, the blades linear to broadly lanceolate, toothed or entire, 1-6 cm long; leaves of the flowering shoots reduced and less crowded.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a short, bracted, terminal raceme of a few pairs of stalked flowers, the stalks hairy; corollas blue-lavender to light purple, tubular, 2.5-5 cm long, distinctly 2-lipped, smooth on the outside, long-white-hairy within on the lower lip near its base and on a pair of ridges; calyces 7-15 mm long, hairy, 5-lobed, the lobes lance-linear to narrowly egg-shaped; fertile stamens 4, the anthers densely white-woolly; sterile stamen shorter than the fertile stamens, long-yellow-bearded toward the tip.
Fruits:
Capsules, 8-12 mm long; seeds numerous, angled, narrowly winged, 1-2 mm long.
Notes:
Two sympatric varieties occur in BC.

1. Leaves entire or slightly fine-toothed, relatively broad, 2-7 times as long as wide; corollas 2.5-4 cm long....................var. fruticosus

1. Leaves more or less toothed or sometimes entire, relatively narrow, 6-10 times as long as wide; corollas 3.5-5 cm long....................var. scouleri (Lindl.) Cronq.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic to dry rocky hillsides and open forests in the steppe to alpine zones; common in S BC in and east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains and south of 53degreeN; S to MT, WY and OR.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References