North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Penstemon australis

Penstemon australis Small

sandhill beardtongue, eustis lake beardtongue, southern beardtongue

Penstemon australis (Sandhill Beardtongue)

Image ID: 16092
Image by: Sorrie, Bruce A.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: PEAU
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Penstemon australis
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2019-02-25

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: PENST
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Penstemon
GENUS AUTHORITY: Schmidel
GENUS COMMON: Beardtongue
GENUS SUMMARY: [contributed by Alan S. Weakley and Dwayne Estes]
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Estes (2012)=Y; Clements, Baskin, & Baskin (1998)=Z; Pennell (1935)=P. Key based on Y and Z.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: PLANTA
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Plantaginaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Plantain Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: As radically recircumscribed, a family of about 120 genera and 1800 species.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Albach, Meudt, & Oxelman (2005); Olmstead et al. (2001); Schwarzbach in Kadereit (2004); Fischer in Kadereit (2004).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect perennial of sandhills, flatwoods, dry hammocks and dry sandy roadsides.
STEMS: Stems 1-several (not branched above the base), reddish-purple, usually hairy.
LEAVES: Leaves opposite, sessile, lance-shaped, to 4 in. long, somewhat thick-firm, vaguely coarsely toothed, smooth to minutely hairy.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers in a moderately compact, terminal panicle, with branches angled upward; pink to lavender-purple; to 1 in. long; bilaterally symmetric; tubular and with 2 lips, the upper 2-lobed and slightly shorter than the lower, which is 3 lobed. Corolla throat white with purple lines and a barely protruding yellow-bearded tongue. Flower parts--corolla, calyx, stalks and inflorescence branches--are often covered with glandular hairs.
FRUITS:
COMMENTS: Identification of Penstemon species is difficult due to variations in flower characters such as color, patterning, relative length of parts, and degree of constriction/dilation of the corolla tube.
HEIGHT: 8-28 in.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Opposite
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Bilateral (Zygomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: May-Jul

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
			x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Pink to lavender

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
		x					x	x

FRUITING PERIOD: Jul-Aug.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Disturbed, Pine savannas, Sandhills
NATIVE RANGE: southeastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
369	2011-0241	2011-11-29	373	View
3393	1991-0020			View
5852	1995-0980			View

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
373	HORT	2010-07-11	Poythress	View
2027	NPMD	2020-07-13	Kunz	View
2028	NPMD	2020-07-23	Kunz	View
2165	NPMD	2019-08-15	Touloupas	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
896	369	43	NCBG staff	2011-10-25	View
897	369	43	NCBG staff	2011-11-02	View
5627	3393	58	NCBG staff	1990-05-01	View
8367	5852	204	NCBG staff	1993-01-01	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: PEAU
USDA Common Name: Eustis Lake Beardtongue
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FACU				FACU

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Penstemon australis
COMMON NAME: Southern Beardtongue, Sandhill Beardtongue
SYNONYMY: [= K, P, S, Y, Z; < P. australis - C, F, G, RAB, Va, W, WH3]
PHENOLOGY: May-Jul; Jul-Aug.
HABITAT: Sandhills, flatwoods, dry hammocks, dry sandy roadsides.
COMMENTS: Se. VA south to c. peninsular FL, west to s. and wc. AL, primarily on the Coastal Plain, but not uncommon westward into the Piedmont and lower Mountains, and extending in the interior into c. TN.
RANGE MAP: Penstemon australis.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Plantaginaceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Plantain Family)
SUMMARY: As radically recircumscribed, a family of about 120 genera and 1800 species.
REFERENCE: Albach, Meudt, & Oxelman (2005); Olmstead et al. (2001); Schwarzbach in Kadereit (2004); Fischer in Kadereit (2004).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Penstemon Schmidel (Beardtongue)
SUMMARY: [contributed by Alan S. Weakley and Dwayne Estes]
REFERENCE: Estes (2012)=Y; Clements, Baskin, & Baskin (1998)=Z; Pennell (1935)=P. Key based on Y and Z.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Penstemon australis in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Penstemon australis in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Penstemon australis in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Penstemon australis in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Penstemon australis in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Penstemon australis

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 16092 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 19578 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 19578 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)