Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Penstemon smallii
FAMILY
Plantaginaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Small's Penstemon at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Penstemon smallii
FAMILY
Scrophulariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Penstemon smallii
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 166-14-001:
Penstemon smallii FAMILY Scrophulariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Penstemon smallii
COMMON NAME:
Small's Beardtongue, Blue Ridge Beardtongue
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm230320_1765
March Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm090412_236b
April Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm220517_7931
May Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
Corollas 28-35mm long, lavender, violet, or purple; lower lobes projecting beyond upper lobes, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
)
JK Marlow jkm220517_7941
May Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm220517_7942
May Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
Cauline lvs broadly lanceolate, evenly serrate; base wide, clasping, cordate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm220517_7943
May Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
Corolla strongly bilabiate, lined, corolla throat strongly 2-ridged on its floor, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
)
JK Marlow jkm220517_7950
May Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
Corolla glandular-pubescent externally, tube 7-8mm, throat abruptly inflated, 9-16mm diam, per Flora of North America.
)
Dan Whitten sdw052422_1174
May Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
)
Tim Spira tpspsmallii
May
)
JK Marlow jkm150607_249
June McDowell County? NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Lower bracts of inflorescence foliose, slightly smaller than cauline leaves, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm150607_251
June McDowell County? NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm150607_254
June McDowell County? NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm160610_934b
June Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
Capsule 6-9mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm160610_941
June Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
Thyrse leafy, spreading, with leaf-like bracts, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm160610_944
June Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
Plant minutely downy; leaves just below inflorescence only slightly reduced, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm160610_946b
June Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
)
Keith Bradley kab_p_smallii_0630
June NC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Penstemon smallii
FAMILY
Plantaginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Penstemon smallii
FAMILY
Scrophulariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Penstemon smallii
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 166-14-001:
Penstemon smallii
FAMILY
Scrophulariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Penstemon smallii
1048
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: woodlands, cliffs, glades, roadbanks, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in NC Mountains (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal rosette & opposite
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Pinkish/ Pale purplish/ Lavender
(white toward the tube)
Bilaterally symmetrical
5 sepals
2-lipped 5-lobed tubular corolla
4 fertile stamens & 1 staminode bearded with yellow 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
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p153
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p157
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p109
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p091
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p261
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p088
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p246
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p154
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