Single Record
Participant Info
- Species
- Penstemon procerus [Penstemon confertus var. procerus]
- Family
- Plantaginaceae
- CommonName
- littleflower penstemon, pincushion beardtongue
- Presence
- yes
- Status
- EarliestDate
- 1936
- LatestDate
- 2024
- Ecosystem
- montane, subalpine
- Geobotanical
- SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans
- Counties
- Conejos, Hinsdale, Mineral, Saguache
- Passes
- La Manga
- WildlifePreserves
- Other Localities
- Comments
- Judging from vouchers, in the Watershed Penstemon procerus is less common than its look-alike, Penstemon rydbergii. Littleflower penstemon has been recorded only from the west side of the Valley: e.g., Conejos River (Conejos Co, 1974), North Clear Creek Falls (Hinsdale Co, 1985), Big Meadows Reservoir (Mineral Co, 1997, 2023), Saguache Creek (Saguache Co, 1936). It prefers meadows or forest openings in the montane and subalpine. In such habitats it can be found in all Western USA states except for Arizona. Allred et al. (2020) also do not find it in New Mexico, although BONAP indicates its rare presence in Taos Co. The easiest way to distinguish P. procerus from P. rydbergii is size: the first has corollas 6-10 mm long and capsules 2-5 mm long; the second has corollas 10-16 mm long and capsules 5-10 mm long. Oddly, the Latin "procerus" means tall.
- Annotation