Pinyon Penstemon
Penstemon pinorum
NatureServe conservation status
Global (G-rank): G1G2
State (S-rank): S1S2
Utah Wildlife Action Plan status
- SGCN
External links
General information
Penstemon pinorum is known from a restricted range in the Pine Valley Mountains of Iron and Washington counties, Utah. This species is often associated with various pine trees, sumac and Oregon grape and limestone soils. Pinyon Penstemon has blue-purple flowers with a golden yellow hairy staminode which blooms on elongated stems just 8 inches high. This plant can be recognized and even identified in this region by its sharply toothed narrow, opposite leaves.
Description
Penstemon pinorum is known from a restricted range in the Pine Valley Mountains of Iron and Washington counties, Utah. This species is often associated with various pine trees, sumac and Oregon grape and limestone soils. Pinyon Penstemon has blue-purple flowers with a golden yellow hairy staminode which blooms on elongated stems just 8 inches high. This plant can be recognized and even identified in this region by its sharply toothed narrow, opposite leaves.
Phenology
Flowers from May to early June.
Diagnostic characteristics
Penstemon pinorum and Penstemon franklinii are regionally similar species which both occur in Iron County, Utah. These species can be positively identified by floral features and by their leaves.
- Penstemon pinorum has smaller flowers that are 10-15 mm long and smaller anthers which are 1.1-1.4 mm long. The leaves have sharply toothed leaf margins.
- Penstemon franklinii has larger flowers which measure 14-22 mm long and larger anthers which measure 1.6-1.8 mm long. The leaves have entire or slightly toothed leaf margins.
Species range
A narrow endemic known only from an area straddling the Washington-Iron County line in southwest Utah. It occurs in the hills south-southwest of Newcastle, east of Old Irontown, in the Red Hills to the north and onto the southeast slopes of the Antelope Range (Franklin 2005).
Threats or limiting factors
There are three occurrences on Bureau of Land Management administered lands that are within a greenwood fuel cutting area where removal of overstory and on-ground disturbances are threatening the species' survival. Also on Bureau of Land Management lands there are several locations within one large occurrence where plants, over an area measurable in acres, are unexplainably stunted and sickly; this may be human-caused. Chaining at one location resulted in the loss of habitat (Franklin 1994 in Franklin 2005). Mining-related activities have also resulted in the loss of habitat (Franklin 1994 in Franklin 2005). Long-term effects of grazing, if any, are unknown (Kass 1995 in Franklin 2005). Off-road-vehicle travel may also pose a threat (C. Pontarolo, BLM, pers. comm.).
Taxonomy
No, this species does not have taxonomic discrepancies