Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Penstemon australis
FAMILY
Plantaginaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Downy Beardtongue at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Many specimens of Penstemon from the Appalachian Piedmont combine morphological features of P. australis and P. canescens. These plants usually have equally developed cyme branches (as in P. canescens) but ascending or erect peduncles and pedicels (as in P. australis). Leaf shape generally is intermediate between P. australis and P. canescens. F.W. Pennell in the 1930s annotated most such specimens as P. australis. F.S. Crosswhite (1965e) also included these specimens in his concept of P. australis, assigning them subspecies status.... The relationship of these plants remains unclear; they will key to P. canescens or P. laxiflorus. Read more at Flora of North America.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Penstemon australis
FAMILY
Scrophulariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Penstemon australis
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 166-14-004:
Penstemon australis FAMILY Scrophulariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Penstemon australis
COMMON NAME:
Downy Beardtongue, Sandhill Beardtongue, Southern Beardtongue, Southeastern Beardtongue
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Alan Cressler alc_4689007399
May Talbot County GA
)
Alan Cressler alc_8754892087
May DeKalb County GA
Stone Mountain Park
Corolla throats may be closed or nearly so (the lower lip arching upwards), per Weakley's Flora (2015).
)
JK Marlow jkm120512_706
May Greenville County SC
Peduncles strongly ascending, the inflorescence therefore narrow, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm120512_709
May Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm190504_8104
May Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm190506_8170
May Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Corolla 15-25mm long, gradually inflated to a throat 6-8mm in diameter, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm190506_8172
May Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Cauline leaves coarsely toothed to rarely subentire, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm200525_5222
May Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm200525_5223
May Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm160605_880
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Cauline leaves glabrous to pubescent, moderately thick, narrowly lanceolate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm160605_900
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Thyrse not leafy; bracts of the inflorescence reduced, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm160605_900b
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm160605_906
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Pollinator at work: a hummingbird moth (bee hawk-moth) of the genus Hemaris.
)
JK Marlow jkm160605_919
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm160609_921
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Basal leaves oblanceolate to obovate, often persistent through anthesis, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm160609_924
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm160609_924b
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Capsule 6-8(10)mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm190905_1341
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Penstemon australis
FAMILY
Plantaginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Penstemon australis
FAMILY
Scrophulariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Penstemon australis
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 166-14-004:
Penstemon australis
FAMILY
Scrophulariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Penstemon australis
1043
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Longleaf pine sandhills, pine flatwoods, dry hammocks, dry sandy roadsides, woodland margins, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in NC Mountains)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal rosette & opposite
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Rose/ Lavender/ Violet
Bilaterally symmetrical
5 sepals
2-lipped 5-lobed tubular corolla
4 fertile stamens & 1 staminode bearded with golden trichomes
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p216
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p104
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p389
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p541
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p328
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p161
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p087
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p331
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p154
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p081
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".