Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta -- flowering plants

Class: Magnoliopsida -- dicotyledons

Order: Scrophulariales

Family: Scrophulariaceae -- figwort

Common Name: elegant penstemon, lovely penstemon, beautiful penstemon or beard-tongue

Species Code: PEVE2

Origin: Native to open, often rocky places of southeastern Washington, northeastern Oregon, and adjacent portions of Idaho, but uncommon on the Palouse.

Rare: no

Form: forb, perennial from a stout taproot; glabrous or sometimes glaucous, or the stem puberulent in lines; stems numerous, 30-80 cm long.

Mature height: 16-24 inches

Duration: perennial

Longevity: medium life span

Habitat Type: prairie, forest

Wetland Indicator Status: not listed

Leaves: all cauline, numerous, sessile, lanceolate to oblong, mostly 4-10 cm long by 1-3 cm wide but reduced toward the base, usually sharply serrate, rarely entire, glabrous, acute tipped.

Flowers: inflorescence a thyrsoid panicle, glabrous; calyx 2.5-6.5 mm long, segments ovate to lanceolate, margins scarious and erose; corolla funnelform, lavender to purple, 25-38 mm long, glabrous except the ciliate margined lobes; filaments pubescent toward the tip; anthers reniform; pollen sacs dehiscing about half the length; staminode barely exserted, tip flattened and expanded, with a long white beard.

Flower color: blue/purple

Bloom: June, July

Bloom starts on: early June

Bloom ends on: mid July

Fruit: capsule, 6-9 mm long, ovoid; seeds brown, 1.2-2.5 mm long.

Characteristics:
Reproduces sexually by seed.
Pentstemon venustus in Piper & Beattie 1914.
880,000 seeds/lb (USDA NRCS PLANTS Database 2009).
Taprooted plants are woody at the base.
2n=64 (Hitchcock et al 1969, Baldwin et al 2004).
Hummingbirds and bees pollinate Penstemon spp. in general.
Flowers are perfect.
Fruit is a capsule.
Penstemons in general are not grazed by wildlife or livestock and have only minor medicinal uses (Strickler 1997).
Penstemon species are hosts for the larva of the Chalcedon checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona) butterfly (Pocewicz 2005).

Comments: P. venustus is found more on the eastern periphery of the Palouse, in areas like Troy and along the Clearwater River, and in the Blue Mountains. "Clearwater Selected" is a release from the USDA NRCS Plant Materials Center in Aberdeen, Idaho. The original material for the release was collected along the Clearwater River near Dworshak Reservoir.

Sun requirement: full sun to partial shade

Soil moisture: mesic

Precipitation: The USDA NRCS PLANTS Database (2009) lists the precipitation range as 9-69 inches. It is unlikely that the species occurs at the lower end of the stated range.

Sowing time: fall

Transplant time: spring

Stratification: cold moist

Seed yield: high

Seed harvest: medium difficulty

Seed first harvest: second season

Seed cleaning: easy

Planting duration: moderate

Seed insect problem: none noted

Seed shatter: moderate

Seed size: small

Herbaria: Specimen data and digital resources from The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

Keywords: native perennial upland forb

Propagation:
Seed needs cold moist stratification.
Seeds of some Penstemon spp. lose dormancy after 2.5 years of storage (Allen & Meyer 1990).
Reproduces sexually by seed.

Notes: Penstemon venustus is found more frequently in the moister areas of Idaho, but also sometimes in the upper elevations of the canyon grasslands. Has large purple flowers and serrated leaves. Tends to flop over, so might need some support. Seeds need light to germinate so they should be surface sown. "Clearwater" is a selected class release originating from the Clearwater River in Idaho. Common names include elegant, lovely, Venus, and Clearwater penstemon (Skinner et al 2005).

References:
Allen, Phil S., and Susan E. Meyer. 1990. Temperature Requirements for Seed Germination of Three Penstemon Species. HortScience 25(2):191-193.

Baldwin, B.G., S. Boyd, B.J. Ertter, D.J. Keil, R.W. Patterson, T.J. Rosatti, and D.H. Wilken (eds). 2004. Jepson Online Interchange for California Floristics. University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, CA. Accessed 12/24/09 online at http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/interchange.html

Castellanos, M., P. Wilson, and J. Thomson. 2003. Pollen Transfer by Hummingbirds and Bumblebees, and the Divergence of Pollination Modes in Penstemon. Evolution 57:2742-2752.

Hitchcock, C. Leo, Arthur Cronquist, Marion Ownbey, and J.W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press. Seattle, WA. 5 vol.

Kitchen, Stanley G., and Susan E. Meyer. 1992. Temperature-Mediated Changes in Seed Dormancy and Light Requirement for Penstemon palmeri (Scrophulariaceae). Great Basin Naturalist 52:53-58.

Meyer, Susan E. 1992. Habitat Correlated Variation in Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii Gray: Scrophulariaceae) Seed Germination Response. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 119:268-279.

Meyer, Susan E., and Stanley G. Kitchen. 1992. Cyclic Seed Dormancy in the Short-lived perennial Penstemon palmeri. Journal of Ecology 80: 115-122.

Meyer, Susan E., and Stanley G. Kitchen. 1994. Habitat-Correlated Variation in Seed Germination Response to Chilling in Penstemon Section Glabri (Scrophulariaceae). American Midland Naturalist 132:349-365.

Piper, C.V., and R.K. Beattie. 1914. The Flora of Southeastern Washington and Adjacent Idaho. Press of the New Era Printing Company, Lancaster, PA. 296 pp.

Pocewicz, Amy. 2005. Host Plants of Palouse Butterfly Species. 2 page handout to accompany the April 2005 presentation to the Palouse Prairie Foundation.

Skinner, David M., Paul Warnick, Bill French, and Mary Fauci. 2005. More Palouse Forbs for Landscaping. USDA NRCS Pullman Plant Materials Center and Palouse Prairie Foundation. Online at http://www.wsu.edu/pmc_nrcs/Docs/More_Forbs_for_Landscaping.pdf

Strickler, Dee. 1997. Northwest Penstemons. The Flower Press. Columbia Falls, MT.

USDA NRCS. 2009. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 24 December 2009). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Links:
Plant Profile from the USDA PLANTS Database
Species information from the University of Washington Herbarium
Plant Guide from the USDA PLANTS Database