''Penstemon rupicola'' 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 names cliff beardtongue or rock penstemon. It is native to the west coast of the United States from

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

to the

Klamath Mountains The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated mountain range in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast R ...

of far northern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where it grows in rocky mountainous habitat. It is a clumpy, mat-forming

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Der ...

growing no more than 14 centimeters high. The thick, waxy, oppositely arranged leaves are round or oval and up to 2 centimeters long. The showy wide-mouthed tubular flowers emerging from the mat may be nearly 4 centimeters in length and are shades of light purple to bright pink. ''Penstemon rupicola'' is included in ''Penstemon'' subgenus ''Dasanthera'', along with '' P. barrettiae'', '' P. cardwellii'', '' P. davidsonii'', '' P. ellipticus'', '' P. fruticosus'', '' P. lyallii'', '' P. montanus'', and '' P. newberryi''. It has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Penstemon rupicola''Washington Burke Museum''Penstemon rupicola'' — UC Photos gallery
rupicola Flora of California Flora of Oregon Flora of Washington (state) Flora of the Klamath Mountains Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Plantaginaceae-stub