''Penstemon barrettiae'' is a species of flowering plant in the
plantain family known by the common name Barrett's beardtongue or Barrett's penstemon. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to a small part of the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
of North America.
[''Penstemon barrettiae''.]
Center for Plant Conservation.[''Penstemon barrettiae''.]
The Nature Conservancy.[''Penstemon barrettiae''.]
Washington Burke Museum.
This species is a
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
herb
In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...
[ or ]shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
[ growing 20 to 40 centimeters tall. It is hairless and the leaves and ]inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
are waxy in texture. The oppositely arranged, blue-green leaves are stiff and leathery and have smooth or slightly serrated edges. The leaf pairs on the stem are up to 3.5 centimeters long and have clasping bases. The flowers are pink or light purple-tinged and tubular in shape. They are over 3 centimeters long and 1 centimeter wide at the lipped mouth.[ Flowering occurs in April through June.][
''Penstemon barrettiae'' generally grows on cliffs and rock outcrops where the soil is thin. It may anchor in rock cracks and crevices in talus.][ It is limited to a small area in southern Washington and northern Oregon, where it can be found in the ]Columbia River Gorge
The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the sta ...
and the Klickitat River
The Klickitat River is a tributary of the Columbia River, nearly long, in south-central Washington in the United States. It drains a rugged plateau area on the eastern side of the Cascade Range northeast of Portland, Oregon. In 1986, of the ri ...
canyon. Threats to the species include poaching
Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...
, road maintenance, herbicides, quarrying, logging, and recreational activity.[
This species is named after Almeta Hodge Barrett, who discovered it sometime prior to 1886.]
References
External links
Type specimen on JSTOR
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7164834
barrettiae
Flora of Oregon
Flora of Washington (state)