Carnegiea gigantea, Giant Saguaro

Southwest Desert Flora

Home to the plants of the Sonoran, Chihuahuan and Mojave Deserts

Cirsium ochrocentrum, Yellowspine Thistle

Keckiella antirrhinoides, Snapdragon Penstemon

Snapdragon Penstemon is relatively rare in the United States. It has an attractive flower that blooms in the early spring from March to May. Keckiella antirrhinoidesSnapdragon Penstemon has green lanceolate leaves, opposite along the stems that grow in axillary clusters. Flowers are attractive, yellow with fine hairs. Keckiella antirrhinoidesSnapdragon Penstemon grows in desert upland and mountain ranges in chaparral and juniper communities. Keckiella antirrhinoidesSnapdragon Penstemon is a relatively large shrub that grows up to 5 feet tall or so with spreading or erect stems. Keckiella antirrhinoides

Scientific Name: Keckiella antirrhinoides
Common Name: Snapdragon Penstemon
Also Called: Bush Penstemon, Chaparral Bush-beardtongue
Family: Scrophulariaceae, Figwort or Snapdragon Family - Moving to Plantaginaceae
Synonyms: (Keckiella antirrhinoides var. microphylla, Penstemon antirrhinoides subsp. microphyllus, Penstemon microphyllus)
Status: Native
Duration: Perennial
Size: Up to 5 feet or so, usually less.
Growth Form: Shrub, subshrub; stems spreading to erect; plants canescent.
Leaves: Green; opposite in axillary clusters; leaf shape lanceolate to narrowly obovate; margins mostly entire.
Flower Color: Yellow, hairy; inflorescence finely pubescent, sparsely glandular hairy; corolla yellow, stamens exserted.
Flowering Season: March to May.
Elevation: 1,500 to 5,000 feet; 300 to 5,500 feet in California.

Habitat Preferences: Desert uplands and mountain ranges, chaparral and junipers.

Recorded Range: Keckiella antirrhinoides is relatively rare in the United States where it is found only in AZ, CA and NV. It is also native to Baja California and northern Mexico. In Arizona it occurs in the western ½ and central parts of the state and in Pima and Navajo counties as well.

North America & US County Distribution Map for Keckiella antirrhinoides.

U.S. Weed Information: No information available.
Invasive/Noxious Weed Information: No information available.
Wetland Indicator: No information available.
Threatened/Endangered Information: No information available.

Genus Information: In North America there are 7 species and 15 accepted taxa overall for Keckiella. World wide, The Plant List includes 7 accepted species names and includes a further 18 infraspecific rank for the genus.

In the Southwestern United States, Arizona has 1 species of Keckiella, California has 7 species, Nevada has 4 species and New Mexico, Texas and Utah have 0 species. All data is approximate and subject to taxonomic changes.

Comments: Keckiella antirrhinoides was a member of the genus Penstemon although it has few similarities or resemblance to other members in the genus.

Date Profile Completed: 08/15/2016, updated format 10/03/2017
References:
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service on-line database and USGS ITIS search, as Keckiella antirrhinoides subsp. microphylla - (accessed 08/15/2016)
http://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=profile&symbol=KECKI&display=31
Arizona Flora, Kearney, Thomas H., Peebles, Robert H., 1960, University of California Press, Berkley and Los Angeles, California as Penstemon microphyllus.
The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 08/15/2016).
http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/A/Plantaginaceae/Keckiella/
1993, The Jepson Manual, Citation: http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/interchange/I_treat_indexes.html (accessed 08/15/2016)
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?7177,7347,7348
Native Plant Information Network, NPIN (2013). Published on the Internet http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ [accessed: 08/15/2016]. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas, Austin, TX.
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=KEAN
SEINet for synonyms, scientific names, recorded geographic locations and general information
http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/(accessed 08/14/2016).