''Penstemon degeneri'' is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common name Degener's beardtongue. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

in the United States, where it occurs in and around the Arkansas River Canyon in Fremont,

Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point ...

, and Chaffee Counties.''Penstemon degeneri''.
The Nature Conservancy. This species is a

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

producing several stems up to 40 centimeters tall from a

caudex A caudex (: caudices) of a plant is a stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695 In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, "caudex" is most ...

. The lance-shaped basal leaves are up to 6 centimeters long. Leaves higher on the stem are narrower and have a fine coat of hairs. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

bears up to 10 tubular flowers in shades of blue and purple. The flower may be nearly 2 centimeters long and measures about half a centimeter wide at the lipped mouth. The inside of the corolla is slightly hairy and the

staminode In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen, which means that it does not produce pollen.Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; ''A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent''; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co ...

is covered in yellow hairs. Blooming occurs in June and July.Beatty, B., et al
''Penstemon degeneri'' Crosswhite (Degener’s beardtongue): A Technical Conservation Assessment.
Prepared for the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, Species Conservation Project. February 23, 2004. This plant grows in pinyon-juniper woodland and mountain

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

habitat.''Penstemon degeneri''.
Center for Plant Conservation. The rocky soils lie on an

igneous Igneous rock ( ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The magma can be derived from partial ...

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...

. Individuals grow on canyon rims and in rock cracks. Other plant species in the habitat may include ''

Arabis divaricarpa ''Arabis'' ,''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 or rockcress, is a genus of flowering plants, within the family Brassicaceae. Description The species are herbaceous, annual or perennial plants, growing to 10–80 cm tall, usua ...

'', ''

Quercus gambelii ''Quercus gambelii'', with the common name Gambel oak, is a deciduous small tree or large shrub that is widespread in the foothills and lower mountains of western North America. It is also regionally called scrub oak, oak brush, and white oak. T ...

'', ''

Bromus japonicus ''Bromus japonicus'', the Japanese brome, is an annual brome grass native to Eurasia. The grass has a diploid number of 14. Description ''Bromus japonicus'' is an annual or biennial tufted grass growing high. The culms are erect or ascending ...

'', '' Sitanion longifolium'', ''

Verbena bracteata ''Verbena bracteata'' is a species of verbena known by the common names bracted vervain, bigbract verbena, prostrate vervain, and carpet vervain. It is native to North America where it is widespread, occurring throughout the continent except for ...

'', ''

Lesquerella montana ''Lesquerella'' is the former name of a genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae.Grindelia squarrosa ''Grindelia squarrosa'', also known as a curly-top gumweed or curlycup gumweed, is a small North American biennial or short-lived perennial plant. Description ''G. squarrosa'' is a decumbent to erect, much-branched perennial herb or subshrub gr ...

'', ''

Heterotheca horrida ''Heterotheca villosa'', commonly known as the hairy goldenaster, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae found in central and western North America. Description Hairy golden aster can grow from tall, but is more typically t ...

'', ''

Artemisia frigida ''Artemisia frigida'' is a widespread species of flowering plant in the aster family, which is known as the sunflower family. It is native to Europe, Asia, and much of North America. In parts of the north-central and northeastern United States ...

'', ''

Carex stenophylla ''Carex'' is a vast genus of over 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus ''Carex'' may ...

'', ''

Eriogonum jamesii ''Eriogonum jamesii'' is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name James' buckwheat and antelope sage. It is native to the southwestern United States, being found in: Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. ...

'', ''

Opuntia phaeacantha ''Opuntia phaeacantha'' is a species of prickly pear cactus known by the common names brown-spine prickly pear, tulip prickly pear, and desert prickly pear, which is found across the southwestern United States, lower Great Plains, and northern Me ...

'', ''

Atriplex canescens ''Atriplex canescens'' (or chamiso, chamiza, four-wing saltbush) is a species of evergreen shrub in the family Amaranthaceae (subfamily Chenopodioideae) native to the western and midwestern United States. Description ''Atriplex canescens'' has ...

'', ''

Pinus edulis ''Pinus edulis'', the Colorado pinyon, two-needle piñon, pinyon pine, or simply piñon, is a pine in the pinyon pine group native to the Southwestern United States, used for its edible pine nuts. Description The piñon pine (''Pinus edulis' ...

'', and ''

Juniperus monosperma ''Juniperus monosperma'', the New Mexico juniper or one-seed juniper, is a species of juniper native to western North America, in the United States in Arizona, New Mexico, southern Colorado, western Oklahoma (Panhandle), and western Texas, and in ...

''. This species was described in 1965 from a specimen collected by

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

and Isa Degener in Fremont County. There are about 14 occurrences of the plant, which are located in

Royal Gorge The Royal Gorge is a canyon of the Arkansas River located west of Cañon City, Colorado. The canyon begins at the mouth of Grape Creek, about west of central Cañon City, and continues in a west-northwesterly direction for approximately unti ...

, the

Pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

San Isabel National Forest San Isabel National Forest is located in central Colorado. The forest contains 19 of the state's 53 fourteeners, peaks over high, including Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado. It is one of eleven national forests in the state of Col ...

, and

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

lands. Many aspects of the plant's ecology and conservation are unknown.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7164847 degeneri Flora of Colorado Flora of the United States

See also

References

External links