Participant Info

Species

Penstemon crandallii [Penstemon crandallii subsp. crandallii] [Penstemon crandallii var. crandallii]

Family

Plantaginaceae

CommonName

Crandall’s penstemon

Presence

maybe

Status

native

EarliestDate

1968

LatestDate

2014?

Ecosystem

montane, subalpine

Geobotanical

SSawatch, Garitas, NCristos

Counties

Conejos, Costilla, Saguache

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

Comments

In the Watershed, Penstemon crandallii is a low shrubby Penstemon of rocky slopes. Usually identified as P. crandallii subsp. crandallii or var. crandallii, it has been vouchered from north of Creede (Mineral Co, 1968), a little south of the Great Sand Dunes (Alamosa Co, 1999), and near Fox Creek (Conejos Co, 2004). These determinations are dubious, and an indisputable instance of the species, under whatever name, has not been seen by this author. It is difficult to judge distribution of varieties or subspecies of P. crandallii, since authorities treat them differently. Note the position of William Jennings: "in my opinion, P. crandallii, P. glabrescens, and P. ramaleyi are separable species” (Colorado Native Plants Listserve, 3/3/2020). In the most inclusive sense, P. crandallii is mainly distributed in Colorado and neighboring parts of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, where it follows the Rio Grande drainage only as far as Santa Fe Co.

Annotation