North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Penstemon laevigatus

Penstemon laevigatus Aiton

eastern smooth beardtongue, eastern beardtongue

Synonym(s): Penstemon penstemon

Penstemon laevigatus (Eastern Smooth Beardtongue)

Image ID: 16097
Image by: Sorrie, Bruce A.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: PELA8
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Penstemon laevigatus
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-11-01

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 bottomlands, forest edges, hammocks and moist, low meadows.
STEMS: Stems 1-several but generally not branched above base, smooth or minutely hairy.
LEAVES: Leaves opposite, sessile, variable but mostly oblong-lance-shaped, to about 5 in. long, toothed, mostly smooth.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers many, in a narrow terminal panicle, with glandular-hairy branches angled upward; white becoming violet-purple; 1/2-3/4 in. long; bilaterally symmetric; tubular and abruptly inflated above the middle, with 2 lips--the upper 2-lobed and mostly equal to the lower, which is 3 lobed. Corolla throat white inside with no (or faint) lines and a barely protruding yellow-bearded tongue.
FRUITS:
COMMENTS: Identification of Penstemon species 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: 1-4 ft.

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

BLOOM COLOR: White to violet-purple

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

FRUITING PERIOD: Jul-Aug.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Disturbed, maritime, Moist forests
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Eastern Smooth Beardtongue produces loose clusters of flowers borne on upright unbranched stems. The flowers open white and darken to a pale purplish shade. Excellent cut flower. Its seed pods can provide interest in the fall and its leafy rosettes persist through the winter. In the wild it can be found in low meadows and forest edges. The Cherokee tribe used the species medicinally as a gastrointestinal aid.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 4
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 10
GERMINATION CODE: 2
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
238	2011-0066	2011-04-05	237	View
4291	1992-0447			View
5408	1995-0531			View
6228	1995-1360			View
9063	2001-0222	2007-02-28	1667	View
9443	2021-0102	2021-07-02	0	View
9512	2021-0149	2022-08-23	0	View

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
237	HORT	2009-08-24	Poythress	View
1667	HORT	2001-08-01		View
1745	HORT	2005-01-01	Kunz	View
1846	HORT	2006-08-01	Bryan	View
2047	NPMD	2020-07-22	Kunz	View
2466	NPMD	2018-08-08	Kunz	View
2467	NPMD	2018-07-19	Kunz	View
2468	NPMD	2018-07-16	Kunz	View
2469	NPMD	2018-08-08	Kunz	View
2470	NPMD	2018-08-08	Kunz	View
2700	NPMD	2022-08-08	Marzolf	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
522	238	28	NCBG staff	2011-03-29	View
523	238	29	NCBG staff	2011-04-21	View
524	238	14	Liloia	2011-04-29	View
525	238	36	Randall	2011-04-19	View
526	238	32	Marchal	2011-05-11	View
527	238	44	NCBG staff	2011-05-10	View
528	238	19	NCBG staff	2011-05-12	View
529	238	43	NCBG staff	2011-10-25	View
530	238	43	NCBG staff	2011-11-02	View
531	238	32	NCBG staff	2011-11-01	View
532	238	34	NCBG staff	2011-11-01	View
533	238	31	NCBG staff	2011-11-01	View
6619	4291	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
7915	5408	203	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
8883	6228	2	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
11083	9063	143	NCBG staff	2002-01-01	View
12779	9443	14	Liloia	0000-00-00	View
13204	9512	38	Wait	2021-11-23	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: PELA8
USDA Common Name: Eastern Smooth Beardtongue
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, KY, LA, MA, MD, MS, NC, NJ, OH, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FAC				FACU			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 laevigatus
COMMON NAME: Eastern Beardtongue
SYNONYMY: [= F, G, GW, K, Mo, P, Pa, RAB, Va, W, WH3, WV, Y, Z; < P. laevigatus - C (also see P. calycosus); = P. pentstemon (Linnaeus) MacMillan - S]
PHENOLOGY: May-Jul; Jul-Aug.
HABITAT: Low meadows, bottomlands, forest edges, hammocks.
COMMENTS: ME west to MI, south to s. GA, Panhandle FL, MS, and AR.
RANGE MAP: Penstemon laevigatus.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 laevigatus in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Penstemon laevigatus in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

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

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 16097 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 16097 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 16096 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 16097 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)