Index / Search / Penstemon glaber

§1 Plant — species · Scrophulariaceae

Penstemon glaber Pursh

vernacular sawsepal penstemon


USDA
PEGL3
GBIF
3171412
Rank
species
sawsepal penstemon (Penstemon glaber)
Platephotograph · Lars RosengreenCC BY-NC-ND source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb, Subshrub
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Scrophulariaceae Juss.
Genus
Penstemon
§2a

Native status, by region

  • L48 Lower 48 States Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Medium
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
100 min.
Precipitation
14–24 in/yr
pH range
6–8
Root depth
14 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Multiple Stem
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
2 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Purple
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
357,500
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Contracting Only
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 5 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PEGL3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3171412 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z