Penstemon strictus

Taxobox
name = Rocky Mountain Penstemon


image_width = 250px
image_caption = Garden plant
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Lamiales
familia = Plantaginaceae
genus = "Penstemon"
species = "P. strictus"
binomial = "Penstemon strictus"
binomial_authority = Benth.

The Rocky Mountain Penstemon ("Penstemon strictus") is a penstemon with showy blue flowers.

Description

This species is a herbaceous perennial with a few stems rising nearly straight up from a thick crown. The leaves are long and narrow, with stem leaves smaller and especially narrower than the basal leaves. The leaves are entire and smooth, or possibly downy near the petiole. The inflorescence is a spike (technically a thyrse of 4 to 10 verticillasters). The corolla is 24 to 32 mm (1 to 1.5 inches) long, deep blue with a violet tube, and smooth.cite book | author=Arthur Cronquist, Arthur H. Holmgren, Noel H. Holmgren, James L. Reveal, Patricia K. Holmgren | title=Intermountain Flora; Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A., vol. 4. Subclass Asteridae (except Asteraceae) | publisher=The New York Botanical Garden | year=1984 | pages 443–444 | id=ISBN 0-231-04120-9] The two upper petals point straight along the tube, like a porch roof (hence the seldom-used name "porch penstemon").cite book | author=Theodore F. Niehaus, Charles L. Ripper, and Virginia Savage | title=A Field Guide to Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers | publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company | year=1984 | pages = pp. 350–351 | id=ISBN 0-395-36640-2] The seed capsules are 8 to 13 mm long.

ubspecies

A downy (puberulent) form has been called "P. strictus" subsp. "angustus" Pennell.

Distribution and habitat

This flower is native to the region from southern Wyoming and western Colorado south to northeastern Arizona and northern New Mexico with an isolated population in Mono County, CaliforniaUSDA, NRCS. 2007. [http://plants.usda.gov The PLANTS Database] , 11 June 2007). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.] It is found in piñon-juniper woods, with scrub oak, or in open areas in ponderosa pine and spruce-aspen forest, often associated with sagebrush.

Horticulture

Because of its combination of showy flowers, tolerance for drought, and hardiness, Rocky Mountain penstemon is often grown as an ornamental in dry regions. [cite book | author = Judith Phillips | year = 1998 | title = The New Mexico Gardener's Guide | publisher = Cool Springs Press | pages = 196–197 | id = ISBN 1-888608-55-2] The coldest region where it is hardy is given as USDA zone 3 [cite web | title = Wildflower Botanical Names - Alphabetic Listing | publisher = Wildflower Information.org | url = http://wildflowerinformation.org/BotanicalListing.asp#P-R | accessdate = 2007-06-11 Also various catalogs.] or 4. [cite web | title = Wildflower Fever!—A Selection of Unusual Natives | publisher = Brooklyn Botanic Garden | url = http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/wildflower/2000sp_fever.html | accessdate = 2007-06-11 Also various catalogs.]

References