[Beardtongues and Penstemons: The Genus Penstemon East of the Cascade Mts. of Oregon and Washington]

Cutleaf Beardtongue, Cutleaf Penstemon, Toothed-cut-leaf Beardtongue

Penstemon richardsonii var. dentatus

Synonym: Penstemon richardsonii ssp. dentatus

Cutleaf beardtongue (var. dentatus) as seen on basalt cliffs at the junction of Oregon Highway #19 and US Highway 26 at Picture Rock Gorge in central Oregon....................August 1, 2011.

Cutleaf Beardtongue, Cutleaf Penstemon, Toothed-cut-leaf Beardtongue: Penstemon richardsonii var. dentatus (Synonym: Penstemon richardsonii ssp. dentatus)

The photo at right shows the mouth of cut-leaf penstemon (var. dentatus) as seen along the South Fork of the John Day River in central Oregon..........mid June 2000.

Characteristics:

Cut-leaved penstemon is a pretty, late blooming penstemon which does well in rich, well-drained soil in gardens on both sides of the Cascades. It typically consists of numerous stems arising from a shrubby base. It does look like like a large, many-flowered bush once it has established itself. Its height may vary from 20 to 80 cm high. The leaves of the variety shown here (var. dentatus) are wider, broadly lanceolate to ovate n shape, and regularly and shallowly dentate. The leaves are all found on the stems and are all glabrous or occasionally lightly nonglandular-pubescent. The blades range from 2.5-5 cm long.

The inflorescence is a wide-spaced, somewhat leafy raceme or mixed raceme-panicle. The corollas are glabrous to glandular outside, with pink to blue or lavender tubes. The tube expands to a wide throat but the mouth of the flower is not strongly two-lipped. Prominent dark lines may be found on the palate. The corolla of variety dentatus ranges from longer than 22-32 mm long. The calyx is 4-9 mm long with lance-shaped to ovate sepals, often unequal in size and green or purplish colored. The anther sacs only split 1/3 to 1/2 their length and thus remain horseshoe-shaped. Depending on the variety, the staminode, which is slightly exserted from the tube, may be lightly bearded at the tip or glabrous.

Varieties:

Variety curtiflorus: Corolla 15-20 mm long, the staminode not bearded. Found only in north-central Oregon in Wheeler and Wasco Counties.

Variety dentatus: Corolla 22-32 mm long, the staminode bearded. Leaves mostly ovate in outline, shallow and regularly toothed. The upper surfaces of the leaf blades are gray-pubescent. Found only in northern Oregon from Wasco to Grant and Union Counties.

Variety richardsonii: Corolla 22-32 mm long, the staminode bearded. The leaves narrow and deeply and irregular toothed about halfway to the midrib. Found from southern British Columbia south to the east of the Cascades through the Columbia Basin to northern Oregon.

Habitat:

Cut-leaf penstemon is found in open rocky places, cliffs and rock fall areas.

Range:

Cut-leaf penstemon is found from south-central British Columbia through central Washington into northeastern Oregon. It is found westward in the Columbia River Gorge as far as McCord Creek.

Additional photos of cutleaf beardtongue (var. dentatus) as seen on basalt cliffs at the junction of Oregon Highway #19 and US Highway 26 at Picture Rock Gorge in central Oregon....................August 1, 2011. Although the photos aren't of the highest quality due to trying to shoot 25' up sheer basalt cliff, they should give a good idea of what to look for when viewing this species.

Cutleaf penstemon (var. dentatus) as seen on a gravelly slope above Oregon Highway 19 across from the Shady Grove Rest Area east of Spray, Oregon.........August 9, 2015.

Cutleaf beardtongue growing on basalt cliffs downstream (on the John Day River) of the campground at Cottonwood Canyon State Park........April 6, 2015.

Cutleaf beardtongue as seen on basalt outcrops along Hard Stone Trail, west bank of the John Day River in the Cottonwood Canyon State Park.........March 19, 2017.

Corolla of Cutleaf Beardtongue, Cutleaf Penstemon, Toothed-cut-leaf Beardtongue: Penstemon richardsonii var. dentatus (Synonym: Penstemon richardsonii ssp. dentatus) -

Dorsal leaf surface of Cutleaf Beardtongue, Cutleaf Penstemon, Toothed-cut-leaf Beardtongue: Penstemon richardsonii var. dentatus (Synonym: Penstemon richardsonii ssp. dentatus) - Ventral leaf surface of Cutleaf Beardtongue, Cutleaf Penstemon, Toothed-cut-leaf Beardtongue: Penstemon richardsonii var. dentatus (Synonym: Penstemon richardsonii ssp. dentatus)

Close-up photos of the corolla and leaves of cut-leaf penstemon (var. dentatus) as seen along the South Fork of the John Day River in central Oregon..........mid June 2000. Note the lightly bearded staminode exserted from the mouth of the flower.

Paul Slichter