| In
North America there are over 250 Penstemon species, more than any other
genera of Scrophulariaceae (Snapdragon Family). About half of the more than three dozen Penstemons found in the Four Corners area are shown in this web site.
In the Four Corners area only the Astragalus genera has more
species -- sixty-one!
In 1748 the genus was named by British citizen and 1735-1746 American resident and plant collector, Dr. John Mitchell. Almost all sources indicate that the word "Penstemon" is derived from the Greek "pente" ("five") and "stemon" ("thread"). Penstemons are so named because one of their five stamens, i.e., one of their thread-like structures, is sterile and visually distinctly different from the others.
An alternate, but ultimately similar etymology is given by Intermountain Flora: "paene" is Latin for "nearly" and "stemon" is Greek for "thread". Thus the name means "nearly a thread", i.e., "nearly a stamen". Whatever the derivation, the botanical word for such a structure is "staminode", "a modified stamen which does not produce pollen". (Intermountain Flora definition.) You can see this staminode, nearly a stamen, structure at the left in the above photograph. Notice that the staminode has a few hairs at its tip; some Penstemon staminodes are very hairy and most project outward from the floral tube. These two characteristics are the source for one common name for the genus: "Beard Tongue". |
Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state
Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Eradicated
Questionable presence