Participant Info

Species

Penstemon crandallii var. crandallii

Family

Plantaginaceae

CommonName

Crandall’s penstemon

Presence

Yes

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 var. crandallii is a low shrubby Penstemon of rocky slopes. Usually identified as P. crandallii subsp. crandallii, it has been recorded, for instance, 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). It is difficult to judge distribution of these 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