Payette Penstemon
Penstemon payettensis
The photo above shows a close-up view of the corolla of Payette penstemon as seen along the Hells Canyon Rim Road in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area...........June 28, 2008. Note: The flowers are bluer than indicated here. See the photos further below for an idea of the more correct flower color.
Characteristics:
Payette penstemon is a perennial wildflower with one to several
stems which rise in a tight cluster to 70 cm in height. The basal leaves are large, measuring up to 18 cm in length. They are long and
slenderly petioled. The shape of the blades is ovate to elliptical. The stem
leaves are smaller (4-8 cm), sessile and lanceolate. The margins of all the
leaves are entire.
The inflorescence is a fairly dense panicle, consisting of three
to ten verticillasters. Each verticillaster is two-to four-flowered. The corolla
is blue to purple and is up to 2.8 cm in length. The tube flares to a broad
throat and is glabrous throughout, as are the lobes. The corolla is definitely
two-lipped with the lower lip longer than the upper. The calyx consists of
5 lanceolate sepals with acuminate tips. The sepals measure from 4.5-8 mm long.
The anthers split along the outer 4/5 of their edge, the sacs spreading opposite
of each other. The staminode is glabrous or occasionally lightly yellow-bearded
and slightly expanded at the tip.
Habitat:
Payette penstemon is found in talus or open slopes to forests
and brushy areas from the foothills to subalpine elevations in the mountains
Range:
Payette penstemon is found from the Wallowa Mts. of northeastern
Oregon eastward across central Idaho to just east of the border with Montana.
The photo above shows a close-up frontal view of the corolla of Payette penstemon as seen along the Hells Canyon Rim Road in Hells Canyon NRA.........June 28, 2008. The tip of the staminode is generally expanded at the tip and may be slightly bearded or glabrous.
The photo above shows a close-up view of the floral parts of Payette penstemon as seen along the Hells Canyon Rim Road in Hells Canyon NRA...........June 28, 2008.
The photo above shows a close-up view of the anthers of Payette penstemon as seen along the Hells Canyon Rim Road in Hells Canyon NRA..........June 28, 2008. The anther sacs spread opposite of each other and open narrowly as seen here.
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Payette penstemon blooming at the Hells Canyon Overlook, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area......June 11, 2018.
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Payette penstemon blooming along the Sugarloaf Trail #1887 on Sugarloaf Mountain, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest......July 18, 2019.
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The photo at left shows Payette penstemon as seen along the Hells Canyon Rim Road in Hells Canyon NRA........June 28, 2008. The photo at right shows Payette penstemon blooming on balds along the Lick Creek Trail #1809, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.......July 17, 2019.
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The photos above show various close-up views of Blue Mt. penstemon as seen on the lower third of Hat Pt. Road in the Hells Canyon National Recreational Area........June 28, 2007.
The photo above shows the inflorescence of Payette penstemon as seen
near the pass on the Frances Lake Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness........late July,
1997.
Paul Slichter