Penstemon rydbergii
| Penstemon rydbergii | |
|---|---|
| In Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Plantaginaceae |
| Genus: | Penstemon |
| Species: | P. rydbergii
|
| Binomial name | |
| Penstemon rydbergii | |
| Varieties[2] | |
| |
| Synonyms[3][4][5] | |
|
List
| |
Penstemon rydbergii, commonly known as Rydberg's penstemon or meadow penstemon, is a perennial plant in the plantain family (Plantaginaceae) that grows in damp, grassy meadows of the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains of the western United States.
Description
The meadow penstemon usually has two kinds of stems, short ones with just leaves and tall ones ending in an inflorescence.[6] All of its herbaceous stems grow from a branching, woody caudex, usually with a taproot beneath it.[7] The flowering stems are usually 20 to 70 centimeters (8 to 27.5 in), but can on grow to as much as 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in). Stems may grow straight upwards, outwards before curving to grow upwards, or grow along the ground.[8] All of the stems can be hairy or hairless, but sometimes the hairs are only found on lines on the stems below where the leaves attach.[7] Very often the stems get progressively more red towards the top.[6]
Most of the leaves are basal, at the base of the plant, and attached to the flowerless stems.[7] The basal leaves and the lowest ones on the flowering stems are 2.5–15 cm (1–6 in) long, but more usually 3.5–7 cm (1.5–3 in). Their width is 0.5–2.2 cm, though commonly 1–1.5 cm. Their shape is oblanceolate to elliptic with tapering bases and a narrow to widely angled point, very rarely mucronate. The leaves attached to the flowering stems are in three to six pairs attached to opposite sides and are 2.5–11 cm (1–4 in) long, though usually shorter than 7 cm. They are 0.3–2.4 cm wide and lanceolate to elliptic or oblong.[8]
The inflorescence has one to seven well separated groups of flowers, formally called verticillasters, crowning the stems. Though usually each stem will have at least two flower groups. The flowers face in every direction out from their two cymes, the branches from one attachment point, each with three to eleven flowers.[8]
The flowers are bright to deep blue or purple on spreading lobes of the flowers while the tube is violet to blue-purple,[7] but always lack floral guide lines.[8] They are hairless except for the lower lip of the flower which is white or golden bearded. They usually measure 10 to 16 millimeters long, but can sometimes be as long as 20 mm.[7] The longest pair of the four stamens reaches or extends out of the flower's mouth and the staminode is 6–7 mm long, just reaching the mouth.[8]
Its fruits are hairless capsules that measure 4–5 mm by 3–4 mm wide. They contain numerous small seeds 0.6–1 mm.[7]
Taxonomy
Penstemon rydbergii was scientifically described and named by botanist Aven Nelson in 1898. It is part of the genus Penstemon within the family Plantaginaceae. It has three accepted varieties.[2]
- Penstemon rydbergii var. aggregatus
- Penstemon rydbergii var. oreocharis
- Penstemon rydbergii var. rydbergii
Penstemon rydbergii has 13 synonyms of the species or one of its three varieties.[2][3][4][5]
| Name | Year | Rank | Synonym of: | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penstemon aggregatus Pennell | 1920 | species | var. aggregatus | ≡ hom. |
| Penstemon attenuatus var. varians A.Nelson | 1912 | variety | var. rydbergii | = het. |
| Penstemon ellipticus Greene | 1906 | species | var. oreocharis | = het., nom. illeg. |
| Penstemon erosus Rydb. | 1901 | species | var. rydbergii | = het. |
| Penstemon lacerellus Greene | 1906 | species | var. rydbergii | = het. |
| Penstemon latiusculus Greene | 1906 | species | var. rydbergii | = het. |
| Penstemon oreocharis Greene | 1906 | species | var. oreocharis | ≡ hom. |
| Penstemon productus Greene | 1906 | species | var. rydbergii | = het. |
| Penstemon recurvatus A.Heller | 1906 | species | var. oreocharis | = het. |
| Penstemon rydbergii subsp. aggregatus (Pennell) D.D.Keck | 1945 | subspecies | var. aggregatus | ≡ hom. |
| Penstemon rydbergii subsp. typicus D.D.Keck | 1945 | subspecies | P. rydbergii | ≡ hom., not validly publ. |
| Penstemon rydbergii var. varians (A.Nelson) Cronquist | 1959 | variety | var. rydbergii | = het. |
| Penstemon vaseyanus Greene | 1906 | species | var. oreocharis | = het. |
| Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym ; = heterotypic synonym | ||||
Names
The species name, rydbergii, was selected by Nelson to honor Per Axel Rydberg.[9] Rydberg was a botanist who traveled widely in the western United States and received his doctorate in botany the same year this species was named for him.[10] It is similarly known by the common names Rydberg's penstemon,[11] Rydberg's meadow penstemon,[12] or Rydberg penstemon.[13] It is also known as meadow penstemon or mountain meadow penstemon.[6][14]
Range and habitat
Meadow penstemons are native to the western United States from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific States.[11][15] In New Mexico they are only found in the northern mountainous parts of the state.[6] In Colorado it likewise is known from the western, mountainous portion of the state and is only known from Carbon and Fremont counties in Wyoming. Similarly, it is only recorded in four of the southwestern counties of Montana.[11] It is found in almost all parts of the Great Basin, but is not found in eastern Nevada.[16] It is found in southern Idaho and not the northern panhandle.[7] It generally does not grow west of the Cascade Mountains in Washington and Oregon.[17] In California it grows in the northern Coast Ranges, the Klamath Mountains, and in the higher parts of the Sierra Nevada in the central part of the state.[18]
Most penstemons prefer dry habitats, but the meadow penstemon is usually found in moist places such as near streams or wet meadows.[6]
Ecology
Experimental evidence shows that meadow penstemons increase in areas where the northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides) are active.[19] They often grow more thickly at the edge of areas disturbed by the gophers.[20] They contain iridoids bound as glycosides named euphroside, plantarenaloside, aucubin, and geniposidic acid.[21]
Cultivation
Although small flowered, it is sometimes grown in gardens particularly by people living in areas moist climates. It is propagated by seed and requires twelve weeks of cold-moist stratification for good levels of sprouting.[22]
See also
References
Citations
- ^ NatureServe 2025.
- ^ a b c POWO 2025a.
- ^ a b POWO 2025b.
- ^ a b POWO 2025c.
- ^ a b POWO 2025d.
- ^ a b c d e Heflin 1997, p. 38.
- ^ a b c d e f g Cronquist et al. 1984, p. 390.
- ^ a b c d e Freeman 2020.
- ^ Heil et al. 2013, p. 723.
- ^ Barnhart 1943, p. 269.
- ^ a b c NRCS 2025.
- ^ Niehaus 1974, p. 119.
- ^ Buchanan 1992, p. 72.
- ^ Wenk 2014, p. 270.
- ^ Ogle, Peterson & St. John 2013, p. 1.
- ^ Blackwell 2006, p. 49.
- ^ Clark & Trelawny 1975, p. 56.
- ^ Wetherwax & Holmgren 2012.
- ^ Ellison & Aldous 1952, pp. 180, 183.
- ^ Ellison & Aldous 1952, p. 183.
- ^ Arslanian & Stermitz 1991, p. 36.
- ^ Lindgren & Wilde 2003, p. 80.
Sources
- Books
- Barnhart, John H. (1943). "Rydberg, Per Axel". In Malone, Dumas; Johnson, E. Gustav (eds.). Dictionary of American biography. Vol. 16 Robert−Seward. New York: C. Scribner's Sons. pp. 269−270. OCLC 6471662. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
- Blackwell, Laird Richard (2006). Great Basin Wildflowers : A Field Guide to Common Wildflowers of the High Deserts of Nevada, Utah, and Oregon. Guilford, Connecticut: FalconGuide. ISBN 978-0-7627-3805-2. OCLC 809414410.
- Buchanan, Hayle (1992). Wildflowers of Southwestern Utah: A Field Guide to Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks, and Surrounding Plant Communities (Revised ed.). Bryce Canyon, Utah : Helena, Mont: Bryce Canyon Natural History Association ; Distributed by Falcon Press Publishing Co. ISBN 978-1-56044-074-1. OCLC 26806272. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
- Clark, Lewis J.; Trelawny, John G. S. (1975). Lewis Clark's Field Guide to Wild Flowers of the Arid Flatlands in the Pacific Northwest. Sidney, British Columbia: Gray's Publishing. ISBN 978-0-88826-054-3. OCLC 2336206. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- 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 19 November 2025.
- Heflin, Jean (1997). Penstemons : The Beautiful Beardtongues of New Mexico. Albuquerque, New Mexico: Jackrabbit Press. ISBN 978-0-9659693-0-7. OCLC 39050925. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- Heil, Kenneth D.; O'Kane, Steve L. Jr.; Reeves, Linda Mary; Clifford, Arnold (2013). Flora of the Four Corners Region: Vascular Plants of the San Juan River Drainage, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah (First ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. ISBN 978-1-930723-84-9. ISSN 0161-1542. LCCN 2012949654. OCLC 859541992. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- 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 23 November 2025.
- Niehaus, Theodore F. (1974). Sierra Wildflowers: Mt. Lassen to Kern Canyon. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-02742-8. OCLC 980038. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
- Wenk, Elizabeth (2014). John Muir Trail: The Essential Guide to Hiking America's Most Famous Trail. New York: Wilderness Press. ISBN 978-0-89997-736-2. OCLC 858602692.
- Journal articles
- Arslanian, Robert L.; Stermitz, Frank R. (February 1991). "High performance liquid chromatographic analysis of iridoid glycosides from Penstemon rydbergii varieties". Phytochemical Analysis. 2 (1): 35–37. doi:10.1002/pca.2800020107.
- Ellison, Lincoln; Aldous, C. M. (April 1952). "Influence of Pocket Gophers on Vegetation of Subalpine Grassland in Central Utah". Ecology. 33 (2): 177–186. doi:10.2307/1930638. JSTOR 193063.
- Web sources
- Freeman, Craig C. (6 November 2020) [In print 2019]. "Penstemon rydbergii". Flora of North America. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-19-086851-2. OCLC 1101573420. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
- NatureServe (1 November 2025). "Penstemon rydbergii". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- NRCS (18 November 2025), "Penstemon rydbergii", PLANTS Database, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- Ogle, Daniel G.; Peterson, J. Scott; St. John, Loren (October 2013). "Plant Guide for Rydberg's Penstemon (Penstemon rydbergii)" (PDF). Natural Resources Conservation Service. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- POWO (2025a). "Penstemon rydbergii A.Nelson". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- POWO (2025b). "Penstemon rydbergii var. aggregatus (Pennell) N.H.Holmgren". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- POWO (2025c). "Penstemon rydbergii var. oreocharis (Greene) N.H.Holmgren". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- POWO (2025d). "Penstemon rydbergii var. rydbergii". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- Wetherwax, Margriet; Holmgren, Noel H. (2012). "Penstemon rydbergii var. oreocharis in Jepson Flora Project". Jepson eFlora. University of California, Berkeley. Archived from the original on 12 September 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2025.