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Penstemon
Penstemon , the beardtongues, is a large genus of roughly 280 species of flowering plants native to North America from northern Canada to Central America. It is the largest genus of flowering plants endemic to North America. As well as being the scientific name, penstemon is also widely used as a common name for all Penstemon species alongside beardtongues.
Formerly placed in the family Scrophulariaceae by the Cronquist system, new genetic research has placed it in the vastly expanded family Plantaginaceae. The total number of species is disagreed upon due to ongoing research into if some of the named species are actually subspecies or illegitimate concepts of previously described species.
60 branches of this group, most-observed first
foxglove beardtongue
speciesPenstemon digitalis
Small-flower Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon procerus
Whipple's penstemon
speciesPenstemon whippleanus
hairy beardtongue
speciesPenstemon hirsutus
Front Range Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon virens
Rydberg's Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon rydbergii
Hot Rock Penstemon
speciesPenstemon deustus
Sierra Penstemon
speciesPenstemon heterodoxus
Yellow Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon confertus
eastern gray beardtongue
speciesPenstemon canescens
Lilac Penstemon
speciesPenstemon gracilis
pale beardtongue
speciesPenstemon pallidus
Sharpsepal Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon tenuis
Long-sepal Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon calycosus
Low Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon humilis
eastern smooth beardtongue
speciesPenstemon laevigatus
nodding beardtongue
speciesPenstemon laxiflorus
Manyflower Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon multiflorus
White Wand Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon tubaeflorus
Alberta Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon albertinus
Chelan Penstemon
speciesPenstemon pruinosus
Wilcox's Penstemon
speciesPenstemon wilcoxii
Eustis Lake Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon australis
Gairdner's Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon gairdneri
Glaucous Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon euglaucus
Small's Penstemon
speciesPenstemon smallii
Eastern whiteflower beardtongue
speciesPenstemon tenuiflorus
Watson's Penstemon
speciesPenstemon watsonii
Arkansas Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon arkansanus
Sulphur Penstemon
speciesPenstemon attenuatus
Siskiyou Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon anguineus
Inflated Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon inflatus
Broadleaf Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon ovatus
Finetooth Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon subserratus
White-margined Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon albomarginatus
Rattan's Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon rattanii
Oklahoma Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon oklahomensis
short-sepaled beardtongue
speciesPenstemon brevisepalus
tall western penstemon
speciesPenstemon hesperius
Harbour's Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon harbourii
Griffin's Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon griffinii
Globe Penstemon
speciesPenstemon globosus
Matroot Penstemon
speciesPenstemon radicosus
Stiffleaf Penstemon
speciesPenstemon aridus
ash beardtongue
speciesPenstemon cinicola
Bleakly's Penstemon
speciesPenstemon bleaklyi
Peck's Penstemon
speciesPenstemon peckii
Lowland Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon alluviorum
High Mountain Penstemon
speciesPenstemon flavescens
Apache Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon oliganthus
Susanville beardtongue
speciesPenstemon sudans
Tufted Penstemon
speciesPenstemon laxus
Dune Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon arenarius
western whiteflower beardtongue
speciesPenstemon pratensis
Metcalfe's Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon metcalfei
Blueleaf Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon glaucinus
Penstemon decurvus
speciesPenstemon decurvus
Kral's beardtongue
speciesPenstemon kralii
Deam's Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon deamii
Degener's Beardtongue
speciesPenstemon degeneri
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Penstemon in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 1368667.