''Penstemon comarrhenus'' (dusty beardtongue
or dusty penstemon) is a
perennial plant
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 ...
in the plantain family (
Plantaginaceae
Plantaginaceae, the plantain family, is a large, diverse family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as snapdragon and foxglove. It is unrelated to the banana-like fruit also called "plantain." In older cl ...
) found in the
Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
[Canyon Country Wildflowers, Damian Fagan, 2nd ed., 2012, Morris Bush Publishing, LLC. in cooperation with Canyonlands Natural History Association, ]
Description
Growth pattern
It is a perennial growing from tall.
[
]
Leaves and stems
It has smooth stems with opposite long leaves, inversely lanceolate at the base, linear and smaller going up the stem.[
]
Inflorescence and fruit
It produces pale blue flowers from May to July.[ Fruits are small capsules.][
]
Distribution and habitat
It can be found in pinyon juniper woodland Pinon, Piñon, Piñón, or Pinyon may refer to:
* Pinyon pine (piñon pine), a group of several species of North American pine trees (genus ''Pinus'')
** the edible pine nuts of these trees
** Pinyon-juniper woodland
* the edible seeds of the Sout ...
, mountain brush, ponderosa pine forest
Ponderosa pine forest is a plant association and plant community dominated by ponderosa pine and found in western North America. It is found from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast Ranges in the Western United States and Western Canada. In t ...
, and Douglas fir and aspen forest
Douglas fir and aspen forest is a plant community or vegetation type of the mountains of the western United States, dominated by Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') and Quaking aspen (''Populus tremuloides'').Spatial patterns of Douglas-fir and ...
communities.[
]
Ecology
Bees are the primary pollinator.[
]
References
comarrhenus
Flora of the Southwestern United States
{{Plantaginaceae-stub