Penstemon superbus (Superb Beardtongue)

Family

SCROPHULARIACEAE

Scientific Name with Author

Penstemon superbus A. Nelson

Common Name

Superb Beardtongue

Agency Status
USFWS	State of NM	USFS	BLM	Navajo Nation	State Rank	Global Rank	R-E-D Code	NMRPTC Status	Strategy Status
					S2	G4	1-1-2	D

Description

Plants perennial, glaucous (bluish); stems 3-12 dm tall; basal leaves petiolate; cauline leaves cordate-clasping or connate-perfoliate; inflorescence narrow, often more than half plant height, glandular or glabrous; flowers in dense fascicles separated by long internodes; corolla orange-pink to scarlet, glandular outside, very obscurely bilabiate, throat only slightly expanded, 17-22 mm long; stamens included; anthers glabrous, explanate; staminode bearded near tip with a few short hairs. Flowering April-June.

Similar Species

This species is unlikely to be confused with any other penstemon in the area because of its size, glaucous foliage, inflorescence architecture, unique flower color, and explanate anthers

Distribution

Grant and Hidalgo counties, New Mexico; Cochise, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Pima counties, Arizona; and adjacent Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico.

Habitat

Rocky canyons, washes, grasslands; sandy or gravelly soil; piñon/juniper and oak woodlands; 950-1770 m (3100-5800 ft)

Remarks

Some earlier botanists occasionally identified certain specimens, including one by Metcalfe from Grant County, New Mexico, as P. wrightii, a Chihuahuan Desert endemic, which is very similar.

Conservation Considerations

This beautiful and conspicuous plant may be suffering from over-collection. Otherwise, current land uses apparently pose no threat to it.

Important Literature

Heflin, J. 1997. Penstemons: The beautiful beardtongues of New Mexico. Jackrabbit Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Nisbet, G.T. and R.C. Jackson. 1960. The genus Penstemon in New Mexico. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 41(5):691-759.

Nelson, A. 1904. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 17:100.

Gray, A. 1859. Scrophulariaceae [as P. puniceus]. In: W.H. Emory, Report on the United States and Mexican boundary survey, Vol 2, Part 1, general botany (by J. Torrey):113.

Information Compiled By

David Bleakly 1999

For distribution maps and more information, visit Natural Heritage New Mexico