''Penstemon papillatus'' is a species of

penstemon ''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 ...

known by the common name Inyo beardtongue. The plant 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 else ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, where it is known only from the eastern Sierra Nevada and slopes to the east. It grows in rocky woodland and forest habitat types.

Description

''Penstemon papillatus'' is a gray-green, hairy

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 wid ...

herb growing up to about 40 centimeters tall, becoming woody toward the base. The paired leaves are roughly oval in shape and fused about the stem. The glandular

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

bears purple-blue flowers up to 3 centimeters long. The mouth of the flower is mostly hairless except for the yellow-haired staminode.

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Penstemon papillatus''''Penstemon papillatus'' — U.C. Photo gallery
papillatus Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of Inyo County, California Natural history of Mono County, California Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Plantaginaceae-stub