Mats of Penstemon davidsonii var. menziesii near Whistler, British Columbia
Menzies’ penstemon or Menzies’ beardtongue is native to British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. Despite growing in rocky, well-draining soils, plants can be spectacularly floriferous as shown in today’s photograph.
Mat-forming, this woody evergreen shrub rarely exceeds 10cm (3 in.) in height. Its sibling varieties, including Penstemon davidsonii var. davidsonii, are similar in stature. These two varieties have overlapping ranges (i.e., they are sympatric), but variety davidsonii can also be found further south into California and Nevada. Leaf characteristics can help distinguish these two varieties from one another: minutely-toothed leaves that are broader near or below the middle is var. menziesii, while generally entire leaves broader above the middle is var. davidsonii. Hybridization can occur among penstemons, and particularly so among sympatric infraspecific taxa; this is perhaps the origin of “poorly-defined varieties” in the Illustrated Flora of British Columbia key (available via eFlora BC: Penstemon davidsonii). A careful eye may also note that the labeled illustrations on that page (scans from the Ill’d Flora) have the names reversed.
Additional photographs are available via the Burke Herbarium Image Collection.
Oh, my. That is just stunning.
The first time I saw one of these was 21 years ago when I bought my property in South Surrey, BC. It’s a 1/2-acre property with a garden that was full of treasures, as plants had been collected from all over the world via seed exchanges and the like (the original owner’s sister still lived next door at the time and filled me in on the details). Unfortunately, when I bought this property, it had gone through several other owners after the original and (oddly) none of them were gardeners. By the time I discovered it, the property was badly neglected and seriously overgrown. Most of the smaller plants (and by this I mean less than 5′) were lost, as weeds won the competition for light. Little by little, I reclaimed the garden. One day, I uncovered a really odd-looking, extremely sparse, Charlie Brown ground-cover which had spread a spindly 8′ across, but with very few leaves and no flowers. Having no idea what it was, I dug it up and relocated it to a rock garden I was working on in the front-yard. I cut back the plant to about 1′ in diameter. A year or 2 later I was stunned by it’s beauty as it bloomed for the first time, just as in this photo. It’s grown to fill it’s space (about 3′) and I still enjoy its blooms every year. A definite keeper.
This was a banner year for my Penstemon davidsonii which has finally decided to spread and self seed after many years not expanding much. I think it needed a bit more water than I had been giving it although it is in a perfect location – very similar to the one in your photo.
I appreciate knowing how to tell the 2 varieties apart – mine is definitely P. davidsonii var. menziesii. Thank you.
wow, this is so complete different from the Missouri are native penstemon!!
Just last week, travelling from Whistler to Vancouver, I photographed a Penstemon on the cliff edge above Brandywine Falls. Thanks to you, Daniel, I can now name it correctly.
That looks like it!
So beautiful!
I LOVE learning new words _ “sympatric”.
(now I just need to find ways to use it in conversation ….) 🙂
The APS (American Penstemon Society) is a fabulous group. We sponsor a plant lover’s convention each summer offering 3 days of wildflower filled fieldtrips. We met in early June in Walden, CO, this month. Next year’s convention breaks tradition by meeting in Mexico. Penstemons are always a delight to find and often grow in scenic areas. There are a few species in the eastern USA also.