Antelope Valley beardtongue

Description

Penstemon janishiae is a species of penstemon known by the common names Antelope Valley beardtongue and Janish's beardtongue. It is native to the northwestern United States in sections of Idaho, Oregon, Nevada and northwestern California, where it is a member of the flora in sagebrush, woodland, and pine forests. It is a perennial herb with several hairy upright stems reaching up to about 25 centimeters tall. The leaves are up to 6 centimeters long, many located around the base of the plant and several pairs along each stem. The inflorescence produces several wide-mouthed tubular flowers 2 to 3 centimeters long. Each hairy, glandular flower is pale purple to pinkish or bluish in color with a dark-lined, pouchlike throat. The mouth of the flower is hairy and the protruding staminode is coated in bright orange or yellow hairs. Penstemon the beardtongues, is a large genus of roughly 250 species of flowering plants native mostly to the Nearctic, but with a few species also found in the North American portion of the Neotropics. It is the largest genus of flowering plants endemic to North America. Formerly placed in the family Scrophulariaceae by the Cronquist system, new genetic research has placed it in the vastly expanded family Plantaginaceae. Prairie-clover (Penstemon speciosus) They have opposite leaves, partly tube-shaped, and two-lipped flowers and seed capsules. The most distinctive feature of the genus is the prominent staminode, an infertile stamen. The staminode takes a variety of forms in the different species; while typically a long straight filament extending to the mouth of the corolla, some are longer and extremely hairy, giving the general appearance of an open mouth with a fuzzy tongue protruding and inspiring the common name beardtongue. Most penstemons are deciduous or semi-evergreen perennials, the remainder being shrubs or subshrubs. Heights can range from 10 cm to as much as 3 metres. The one Asiatic species previously treated in Penstemon is now placed in a separate genus Pennellianthus. This leaves Penstemon a mostly Nearctic genus, with a few neotropical species. Although widespread across North America, and found in habitats ranging from open desert to moist forests, and up to the alpine zone, they are not typically common within their range.