Penstemon clutei, Sunset Crater Penstemon, Southwest Desert Flora

Penstemon clutei, Sunset Crater Penstemon

Sunset Crater Penstemon with showy pink flowers on upper stems. Sunset Crater Penstemon blooms from June to July. Penstemon clutei

Sunset Crater Penstemon flowers with distinctive swollen throat. This rare species grows up to about 12 inches more or less. Penstemon clutei

Sunset Crater Penstemon is extremely rare in the United States where it is found in a local region about Sunset Crater, northeast of Flagstaff. Penstemon clutei

Sunset Crater Penstemon has distinctive greenish-gray connate leaves with double serrations about the leaf margins. Penstemon clutei

Scientific Name: Penstemon clutei
Common Name: Sunset Crater Penstemon
Also Called: Sunset Crater Beardtongue
Family: Scrophulariaceae, Figwort or Snapdragon Family - Moving to Plantaginaceae
Synonyms: ()
Status: Native
Duration: Perennial
Size: Up to 12 inches more or less.
Growth Form: Forb/herb;
Leaves: Green, grayish-green; leaves opposite, leaves connate, leaf margins appearing doubly serrate; upper leaves greatly reduced.
Flower Color: Pink, purple, purple-pink with lighter whitish stripes; flowers showy; corolla throat swollen on one side, inflorescence usually leafy, often interrupted by long nodes.
Flowering Season: June to July.
Elevation: About 7,000 feet.

Habitat Preferences: Volcanic cinders.

Recorded Range: Penstemon clutei, Sunset Crater Penstemon is extremely rare. It is known only from a local region about Sunset Crater, northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona.

North America & US County Distribution Map for Penstemon clutei.

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

Threatened/Endangered Information: In North America Penstemon clutei, Sunset Crater Beardtongue is listed as Salvage restricted by the State of Arizona.

Genus Information: In North America there are 250 species and 393 accepted taxa overall for Penstemon. World wide, The Plant List includes 301 accepted species names and includes a further 188 infraspecific rank for the genus.

In the Southwestern United States, Arizona there are 43 species of Penstemon, in California there are 55 species, Nevada has 50 species, New Mexico has 47 species, Texas has 24 species, Utah has 73 species. All data is approximate and subject to taxonomic changes.

Comments: Penstemon clutei, Sunset Crater Beardtongue is extremely rare in the United States where it is found in a local region at Sunset Crater, northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona.

The type (Penstemon clutei) was collected by W. N. Clute in 1923.