Keckiella antirrhinoides

Wiggins 1964, Jepson 1993, Kearney and Peebles 1969

Common Name: snapdragon penstemon Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Shrub General: Shrub to subshrub, much branched with stems spreading to erect, 0.6-2.5 m tall, with yellowish gray-green, canescent young stems and finely puberulent, cinereous twigs. Leaves: Opposite, linear, oblanceolate, or elliptic, 2-8 mm wide, 5-22 mm long, gradually narrowing to a petiole 1-5 mm long, acute or sometimes obtuse at apex, margin entire; in axillary clusters on older stems. Flowers: Leafy panicles 5-30 cm long, finely short-hairy and sparsely glandular, peduncles 1-3 flowered, pedicels 1-2 mm long; sepals lanceolate to lance-oblong, 5-8 mm long, acute or slightly acuminate, imbricate, glandular-puberulent, the corolla 15-23 mm, bright yellow, lined with red without, 8-10 mm broad at throat, throat flaring abruptly from tube about equals calyx; upper lip 9-12 mm long, erect to arcuate, boat-shaped and low-keeled; sterile filament densely bearded on part. Fruits: Capsule narrowly ovoid-acuminate, 7-10 mm long, glabrous. Ecology: Found on rocky slopes and in outwash slopes from 1,500-5,000 ft (457-1524 m); flowers April-June. Distribution: w AZ, s CA; south to Baja Calif., MEX Notes: This species in its present form appears to be a more broadly defined one. Previously, it was both K. antirrhinoides var. antirrhinoides and K. antirrhinoides ssp. microphylla, and while they are still distinguished, it is not exactly certain as to why. If clarity is necessary for this species, a collection is encouraged. This description draws primarily from Wiggins 1964 description of Penstemon antirrhinoides ssp. microphyllus, a synonym for the presently defined K. antirrhinoides ssp. microphylla. Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in the genus have uses. Etymology: Keckiella is named for David Daniels Keck (1903-1995) an American botanist, while antirrhinoides means like Antirrhinum. Synonyms: Penstemon antirrhinoides Editor: SBuckley, 2010