About Penstemon smallii A.Heller
Blooming Period
Penstemon smallii A.Heller typically blooms in late spring or early summer, producing branched panicles of flowers that range in color from white to purple.
Flower Shape
Its flowers are inflated and tubular, measuring 2 to 3.5 cm long, with two spreading lips where the lower lip is much longer than the upper.
Flower Structural Details
The upper lip has two lobes, the lower lip has three lobes, and the flower’s throat has two strong ridges and abundant bearding.
Leaf Characteristics
The species’ leaves are serrate, glabrous, generally lanceolate in shape, and have cordate bases.
Stem Leaf Traits
Stem leaves are sessile, arranged oppositely, clasp around the stem, and share the other characteristics listed above.
Core Distribution
This species is primarily found in the Southern Appalachians of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee, and extends across the Ridge and Valley south into Alabama.
Disjunct Population
There is also a disjunct population in Wake County, in the Piedmont region of North Carolina.
Primary Habitat
It generally grows in or around rock outcrops, glades, barrens, bluffs, and rocky slopes, and prefers circumneutral, low-fertility soils.
Secondary Habitat
It also occurs less frequently in open rocky woodlands, cliffs, and occasionally in forest openings.
Pollinators
It is most often pollinated by bumblebees and wasps.
