High Mountain Penstemon (Penstemon flavescens)
Description
Penstemon flavescens is in subgenus Penstemon section Penstemon subsection Proceri. This subsection is complicated in that it has many species that are polyploid, and there are close affinities with subsection Humiles. The Proceri are characterized by an inflorescence of tightly packed flowers arranged in spaced whorls. The technical name for this is verticillaster, but that-s a mouthful for most people. I think of this architecture as flattened pompoms separated by some stem, but that-s a mouthful, too. What-s really cool about P. flavescens is that it is the only species of Penstemon that has a yellow flower. The term -flavescens- means -becoming yellow.- The flowers open as a pale yellow/creamy white and then turn yellow as they age and senesce.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Lamiales
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Family: Plantaginaceae
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Genus: Penstemon
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