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Vascular Plants of California
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Penstemon humilis var. humilis


Higher Taxonomy
Family: PlantaginaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: PLANTAIN FAMILY
Habit: Annual to shrub, some aquatic. Leaf: basal or cauline, alternate or opposite (whorled), simple, entire to dentate or lobed, venation generally pinnate; stipules 0. Inflorescence: raceme, spike, or flowers axillary in 1--few-flowered clusters; flowers few to many, each subtended by 1 bract. Flower: unisexual or bisexual, radial or bilateral; sepals 4--5, generally fused at base; corolla 4--5-lobed, scarious or not, persistent or not, generally 2-lipped, upper lip generally 2-lobed, lower generally 3-lobed, spur present or not, tube sac-like at base or not; stamens 2 or 4, alternate corolla lobes, epipetalous, staminode 0 or 1--2, anthers opening by 2 slits; ovary superior, [1]2--4-chambered, style 1, stigma lobes 0 or 2. Fruit: generally a capsule, septicidal, loculicidal, circumscissile, or dehiscing by terminal slits or pores.
Genera In Family: +- 110 genera, +- 2000 species: worldwide, especially temperate. Note: Veronicaceae sensu Olmstead et al. Recently treated to include Callitrichaceae, Hippuridaceae, and most non-parasitic California genera of Scrophulariaceae (except Buddleja, Diplacus, Erythranthe, Limosella, Lindernia, Mimetanthe, Mimulus, Myoporum, Scrophularia, Verbascum). California Maurandya moved to Holmgrenanthe and Maurandella. Mohavea moved to Antirrhinum. Limnophila ×ludoviciana Thieret an occasional agricultural weed in rice fields. Hebe ×franciscana (Eastw.) Souster, Hebe speciosa (R. Cunn.) Andersen only cultivated.
eFlora Treatment Author: Margriet Wetherwax, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Robert W. Patterson, Bruce G. Baldwin.
Genus: PenstemonView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Common Name: BEARDTONGUE
Habit: Perennial herb to shrub. Leaf: generally opposite, entire to toothed; distal sessile. Inflorescence: panicle, raceme, cyme, or flowers in whorls; bracts generally small. Flower: calyx lobes 5, +- equal; corolla tube +- cylindric or lower side expanded, +- 2-lipped, generally pink or blue to purple (some red, yellow, or white), upper lip 2-lobed, external in bud; stamens 4, filament bases glabrous, attached to corolla at different levels, anther sacs 2, valves generally spreading +- flat at dehiscence; staminode attached near base of corolla tube, well developed, generally hairy adaxially; nectaries 2, at bases of upper stamens; stigma unlobed. Fruit: septicidal and sometimes also loculicidal at tip. Seed: generally many, irregularly angled.
Etymology: (Latin & Greek: almost thread, from stamen-like staminode) Note: Largest genus of flower plants endemic to North America. Penstemon subglaber, Penstemon strictus may persist in SNH, from commercial wildflower seed mixes or plantings; both native to Rocky Mountains.
eFlora Treatment Author: Margriet Wetherwax & Noel H. Holmgren
Reference: Wolfe et al. 2006 Amer J Bot 93:1699--1713
Unabridged Reference: Holmgren 1984 In Cronquist et al. Intermountain Flora 4:370--457
Penstemon humilis A. Gray var. humilis
NATIVE
Habit: Perennial herb 5--35 cm, generally mat-forming; herbage +- short-(occasionally ashy-)hairy. Leaf: entire; basal leaves many, (15)20--75 mm, (2)4--32 mm wide, (ob)ovate, petioled; cauline leaves lanceolate to obovate, sessile, clasping. Inflorescence: glandular. Flower: calyx 3--6 mm, lobes lanceolate to ovate; corolla 11--15 mm, cylindric to narrowly funnel shaped, blue with lighter floor, dark-lined, glandular outside, floor +- yellow- or white-hairy; anther sacs 0.5--0.8 mm, dehiscing full length, valves barely spreading; staminode orange- to yellow-hairy. Chromosomes: 2n=16.
Ecology: Open montane to subalpine forests, sagebrush scrub, pinyon/juniper woodland; Elevation: 1500--3000 m. Bioregional Distribution: CaRH, GB; Distribution Outside California: to Oregon, Wyoming, Colorado. Flowering Time: May--Jul Note: If recognized taxonomically, small-flowered, small-leaved plants in northern California, southern Oregon, northwestern Nevada assignable to Penstemon cinereus Piper, gray beardtongue, which intergrades fully with Penstemon humilis. Penstemon cinereus Listed in CNPS Inventory.
Synonyms: Penstemon humilis subsp. humilis
Jepson eFlora Author: Margriet Wetherwax & Noel H. Holmgren
Reference: Wolfe et al. 2006 Amer J Bot 93:1699--1713
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

Previous taxon: Penstemon heterophyllus var. purdyi
Next taxon: Penstemon incertus

Botanical illustration including Penstemon humilis var. humilisbotanical illustration including Penstemon humilis var. humilis


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Citation for this treatment: Margriet Wetherwax & Noel H. Holmgren 2012, Penstemon humilis var. humilis, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=75907, accessed on October 08, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on October 08, 2024.

Penstemon humilis  
var. humilis
click for image enlargement
©2006 James M. Andre
Penstemon humilis  
var. humilis
click for image enlargement
©1977 Gary A. Monroe

More photos of Penstemon humilis var. humilis
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Geographic subdivisions for Penstemon humilis var. humilis:
CaRH, GB
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map of distribution 1

(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurrence).






 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.

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All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month Flowering-Fruiting Monthly Counts

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).