Penstemon cyananthus

Penstemon cyananthus
Var. subglaber
Apparently Secure
Apparently Secure (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Penstemon
Species:
P. cyananthus
Binomial name
Penstemon cyananthus
Varieties[2]
  • P. c. var. cyananthus
  • P. c. var. judyae
  • P. c. var. subglaber
Synonyms[3]
  • Penstemon holmgrenii

Penstemon cyananthus, commonly the Wasatch penstemon, is a species in the veronica family from the northern United States in the Rocky Mountains.

Description

The flowering stems of Wasatch penstemons can vary from growing straight upwards to resting the ground with only upturned ends, reaching lengths of 5 to 90 centimeters (2–35.5 in), but usually not more than 70 cm (28 in).[4] Each plant can have a few or just one stem, each sprouting from a caudex that is either thick or with a few short branches.[5] The stems are usually hairless,[6] but can be somewhat or even densely hairy,[4] the hairs can make them look like they have been coated in ashes.[6]

Plants will have both basal leaves and leaves attached to the stems, with the basal ones being very numerous.[5] The texture might be leathery or not, but are never glaucous. The basal ones may also be densely hairy, but can be hairless like the rest of the leaves. The basal and lowest stem leaves are usually 4.5–16 centimeters (1.8–6.3 in), but rarely just 2 cm (0.8 in). Their width is typically 0.3–4 cm wide, but sometimes reaching 5.5 cm (2.2 in). They are obovate to oblanceolate in shape with smooth edges. Flowering stems will produce as many as six pairs of leaves, but can also have just one pair attached to opposite sides of the stem. Upper leaves are 1.6–10 cm (0.6–3.9 in) long and 0.5–6 cm wide with an ovate, oblanceolate, or lanceolate shape and a base directly attached to the main stem.[4]

The flowers are blue to violet,[4] often with the tube of the flower violet and the lobes at the opening blue.[5]

Taxonomy

The botanist William Jackson Hooker published the first scientific description of Penstemon cyananthus in 1849, placing the species in the Penstemon genus. However, Asa Gray published a description of it as a variety of Penstemon glaber in 1878 and Andreas Voss considered it to be a mere form of the same species.[2] Hooker described it using plants grown at Kew Gardens from seed collected by Joseph Burke.[5] The accepted classification of the Penstemon is as part of the Plantaginaceae family and Penstemon cyananthus has three accepted varieties.[2]

  • Penstemon cyananthus var. cyananthus[7] – Native to Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming[8]
  • Penstemon cyananthus var. judyae[9] – Endemic to Utah[10]
  • Penstemon cyananthus var. subglaber[3] – Native to Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana[11]

Penstemon cyananthus and variety subglaber each have two homotypic synonyms.[12]

Table of Synonyms
Name Year Rank Synonym of: Notes
Penstemon fremontii var. subglaber A.Gray 1878 variety var. subglaber
Penstemon glaber var. cyananthus (Hook.) A.Gray 1862 variety P. cyananthus
Penstemon glaber f. cyananthus (Hook.) Voss 1894 form P. cyananthus
Penstemon holmgrenii S.L.Clark 1977 species var. subglaber without replaced synonym page.

Names

The species name, cyananthus, derives from "cyan", meaning blue.[13] Penstemon cyananthus is known by the common names Wasatch penstemon or Wasatch beardtongue.[5][1]

Range and habitat

The range of the species starts in the Wasatch Range of northern Utah and extends northwards in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana,[4] with the species especially common in the Wasatches.[5] In Utah the Natural Resources Conservation Service records of the species as far south as Emery County and grows in most of the counties north of there. Wasatch penstemon are only found in three of the westernmost counties of Wyoming, Uinta, Lincoln, and Teton, but is widespread in southern Idaho. No specific location is recorded for the species in Montana.[14] It grows at elevations of 1,300 to 3,200 meters (4,300–10,500 ft).[8]

It can be found growing amid sagebrush in the foothills and with Gambel oaks, aspen groves, and spruces higher up into the mountains. The species often is found in recently disturbed areas, including along road cuts.[5]

See also

List of Penstemon species

References

Citations

Sources

Books

  • Cronquist, Arthur; Holmgren, Arthur H.; Holmgren, Noel H.; Reveal, James L.; Holmgren, Patricia K. (1984). Intermountain Flora : Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A.. Vol. Four. Subclass Asteridae (except Asteraceae). New York: Published for the New York Botanical Garden by Hafner Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0-89327-248-7. OCLC 320442. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  • Lindgren, Dale Tennis; Wilde, Ellen; American Penstemon Society (2003). Growing Penstemons : Species, Cultivars, and Hybrids (First ed.). Haverford, Pennsylvania: Infinity Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7414-1529-5. LCCN 2004272722. OCLC 54110971. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  • Welsh, Stanley L.; Atwood, N. Duane; Goodrich, Sherel; Higgins, Larry C. (1987). A Utah Flora. Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs, No. 9 (First ed.). Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University. JSTOR 23377658. OCLC 9986953694. Retrieved 21 August 2026.

Web sources

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