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  Ranunculaceae : Aquilegia canadensis

  R Neil Reese

  Aquilegia canadensis is a perennial herb growing 30 to 100 cm tall from a stout caudex. The stems are hollow, smooth to covered with small glandular hairs towards the tops. Stems come from clusters of ternate basal leave and have alternate biternate (occasionally triternate) leaves on the flowering stems. The individual lobes are wedge-shaped and shallowly to deeply lobed. The showy flowers are nodding, regular, 2-5 cm long from tips of the stamens to the ends of the spurs and 1.7-4.3 cm wide. Five rose to dull red colored sepals, 0.9-2 cm long alternate with 5 petals, that are red toward the base and yellowish on the upper parts. The base is formed into a narrow spur that is slightly enlarged at the tip and measure 2-3.6 cm long from the end of the spur to the opening at the upper end. The stamens are numerous and exerted from the corolla. There are 5 carpels that mature into 5 follicles, 1.2-3 cm long with a styler beak that is 0.9-1.8 cm in length and contain several small black seeds. Flowers bloom from April to June. The plants grow in moist soils in wooded areas in several eastern and western counties in South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae : Caltha palustris

  R. Neil Reese

  Caltha palustris is a fleshy perennial herb with a fibrous root system and hollow stems that grow from 20 to 80 cm in height. This species has both basal and alternate cauline leaves. The blades are nearly round with a chordate base and toothed margins, 3-12 cm long and 4-15 cm wide, with petioles that can reach 30 cm in length and form a stipule-like sheath at the node. The showy flowers are terminal and axillary, with usually 5-6 yellow petal-like sepals, 1-2.3 cm long. There are no petals, numerous stamens and 5-10 pistils. The fruit are recurved and divergent follicles, 8-17 mm long cand contain many small seeds ~ 2mm in diameter. Marsh marigolds bloom in April and May in wet woods, marshes and bogs, often in standing water, in eastern South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae : Clematis ligusticifolia

  R. Neil Reese

  Clematis ligusticifolia is a perennial, somewhat woody vine with smooth to hairy stems that grow several meters in length. The opposite, compound pinnate leaves are petiolate, with 3-7 leaflets that are coarsely toothed, ovate, and 2–6 cm long. The inflorescence consists of many-flowered, axillary panicles, with 4 white, petal-like sepals, 5-13 mm long, lacking petals. The plants are dioecious, with the male (staminate) flowers having numerous stamens, but lacking pistils. The female plants (pistilate) flowers have similar sepals, numerous, full size sterile stamens and multiple pistils. The fruit are hairy achenes, 2-4.5 mm long with plumose styles up to 6 cm long. Western virgin’s bower blooms in July and August and can be found climbing of trees, shrubs and rocks in western South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae : Delphinium carolinianum ssp. virescens

  R. Neil Reese

  Delphinium carolinianum ssp. virescens is a perennial herb growing from a fibrous to tuberous root system, with sturdy erect, occasionally branched stems, 25-120 cm tall, usually with simple and glandular hairs throughout. There are both basal and alternate cauline leaves, palmately compound, 7-8 cm long, deeply divided into 5 or more primary sections, each with several linear lobes. The basal leaves have long petioles and are usually gone by flowering, and the cauline leave are smaller with shorter petioles. The inflorescence is a spike-like raceme with 5- 30 zygomorphic flowers. There are 5 white sepals, the uppermost having a spur, 11-20 mm long and the lowest pair 7-16 mm long. the 4 petals are white, the upper pair spurred and the lower pair, cleft, bearded, 4-8 mm long and 3-6 mm wide. There are numerous stamens and 3 carpels. The fruit are 3 divergent follicles about 20 mm long. Prairie larkspur blooms in May and June on prairies and pastures throughout South Dakota.

  Synonym: Delphinium virescens

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  Ranunculaceae : Pulsatilla patens ssp. multifidi

  R Neil Reese

  Pulsatilla patens is a perennial herb, 5-45 cm tall growing from a stout caudex. One to several flower-bearing stems appear early in the spring as the snow melts. A few to several basal leaves emerge after the flowers bloom. The basal leaves have 5-7 lobes, each dissected into many linear to lanceolate segments. There is a whorl of 3 sessile leaves, just below 2-5 cm long, the flower, palmately compound and divided into several narrow segments like the basal leaves. The leaves and stems are densely covered in long silky hairs. A solitary flower, 4-8 cm across, tops a densely hairy stalk, having 5 to 7 blue-violet to white petal-like sepals. The stamens are numerous and yellow in color that surround a light green columnar center. The sepals are pointed at the tip and lined with numerous parallel veins. The fruiting head is 3-6 cm long by 4-8 cm wide. The achenes are 3-6 mm long, spindle-shaped, brown, covered in long white hairs, with the styles becoming pinkish purple feather-like plumes up to 2-3.5 cm long. The plume facilitates dispersal by wind. Pasqueflower blooms from April into June on open prairies throughout South Dakota.

  Synonym: Anemone patens

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  Rhamnaceae : Ceanothus herbaceus

  R. Neil Reese

  Ceanothus herbaceous is a deciduous, perennial, woody, bushy shrub growing up to 1 m tall. The simple, alternate leaves are 3-nerved, oblong to oblanceolate, the margins with small teeth and glandular when young. The upper surface of the leaves usually have a slightly white waxy covering and the lower surface with long white hairs. The inflorescence consists of terminal panicles at the ends of the leafy branches of the new year, on peduncles 1-5 cm long. the tiny white flowers have a short calyx tube with 5 lobes 1.6 mm long, 5 hooded petals, ~2.5 mm long, constricted (clawed) for ½ their length. There are 5 stamens with a 3-lobed ovary surrounded by a 10-lobed collar, 1.5 mm wide. The fruit is a 3-lobed capsule, 3-4.5 mm wide. New Jersey tea blooms in May and June on prairies and open wooded hills in western South Dakota.

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  Rhamnaceae : Ceanothus velutinus

  R. Neil Reese

  Ceanothus velutinus is an evergreen, perennial, spreading shrub growing 0.5-2.5 m tall, lacking spines and forming large colonies. The simple, alternate leaves are 3-nerved, ovate to ovate-elliptic, 4-8 cm long, the margins with small glandular teeth. The upper surface of the leaves are shiny green and often sticky, and the lower surface is pale with long often velvety hairs. The inflorescence consists of axillary, dense panicles. The tiny white flowers have a short calyx tube with 5 incurved lobes < 2 mm long, 5 recurved hooded petals, 2-2.5 mm long, abruptly constricted (clawed). There are 5 upwardly curved stamens with a 3-lobed ovary surrounded by a 10-lobed disk. The fruit is a 3-lobed capsule, 5-6 mm wide, with a slight crest above the middle. Mountain balm blooms in June and July on dry, open wooded hillsides in western South Dakota.

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  Rosaceae: Amelanchier alnifolia

  R. Neil Reese

  Amelanchier alnifolia is a perennial deciduous shrub or small tree which grows 1 m to 5 m in height (occasionally taller in very moist sites) and often forms thickets. The bark is thin, light brown and tinged with red; smooth or shallowly fissured. The leaves are alternate, oval to nearly circular, 2–5 cm long and 1–4.5 cm wide. The margins are entire below and toothed mostly above the middle. Serviceberries have white to pink flowers, borne in racemes, and bloom from April to June. Five sepals are green 1-3 mm long, triangular with the tips recurved. The 5 petals are white, 5-12 mm long and obovate, A shallowly cupped hypanthium of 3-4 mm is visible at anthesis. Each flower has 10-20 stamens and a pistil with 5 styles. The fruit is a deep red to dark purple, berry-like pome, 10-15 mm long and 8-11 mm wide. This species is commonly found open slopes and along streams throughout much of South Dakota.

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  Rosaceae: Crataegus chrysocarpa

  R Neil Reese

  Crataegus chrysocarpa is a perennial multi-stemmed shrub, 2–4 m tall, with a rounded top, straight to curved thorns 3–6 cm long, the young stems are light brown and become gray with age. The alternate, simple leaves have blades that are ovate, 2–6 cm long, shallowly lobed, the lobes pointed. The margins are sharply toothed on the upper half, with glands on the tips of the larger teeth and with small teeth to smooth at the bottom. The blade surfaces have sparsely appressed hairs. The petioles are 1-4 cm long, with 6-9 mm long stipules that are rapidly deciduous. The inflorescence consists of small terminal clusters of 5- to 12 flowers at the ends of lateral branchlets. Each flower has a hairy, cup-shaped hypanthium with 5 sepals 2–4 mm long, and glandular margins. The 5 petals are round, white, 7–10 mm long and abruptly narrowed into a short claw. There are 10 stamens and an inferior ovary with 3 or 4 styles. The fruit is a red pome, 8–15 mm in diameter, sparsely pubescent when young and later becoming smooth. Fireberry hawthorn blooms in May and June on open wooded hillside and prairie ravines of the eastern and western borders of South Dakota.

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  Rosaceae : Dasiphora fruticosa

  R. Neil Reese

  Dasiphora fruticosa is a perennial, spreading, bushy shrub with erect branches 20-100 cm tall. The young branches are covered with soft white hairs that are lost with age, the bark turning red and becoming shredded. The alternate, compound odd-pinnate leaves have petioles up to 12 mm long and brownish stipules 6-12 mm long. The blades have 3-7 linear to narrowly obovate leaflets, 10-20 mm long, with entire margins and hairs on both surfaces, the top with scattered white hairs and the bottom with a denser, gray covering. The inflorescence consist of single axillary flowers and small terminal cymes of 2-5 flowers. The flowers have a saucer-shaped hypanthium, 3.5-5 mm wide, with 5 spreading, pointed, green sepals 4-6 mm long, alternating with small bracts. The 5 yellow, spreading, round to club-shaped petals are 6-13 mm long. There are 20-30 stamens, inserted on the edge of a nectar ring, and numerous hairy pistils on an elongated receptacle. The fruit is a cluster of light brown, hairy, ovoid achenes, each < 2 mm long. Shrubby cinquefoil blooms from June into August on hillsides, meadows and in canyons in western South Dakota.

  Synonym: Potentilla fruticosa

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  Rosaceae : Fragaria virginiana

  R. Neil Reese

  Fragaria virginica is a stoloniferous, rosette-forming herb growing from a thick rhizome. The stolons produce new shoots where the touch the ground. The leaves are primarily basal, trifoliate, with long smooth to hairy petioles. The leaflets have short stalks, are 2.5-4 cm long, 18-25 mm wide, elliptic to obovate, with blunt teeth. The terminal tooth is generally smaller than the 2 flanking teeth. The inflorescence consist of 1-3 clusters of flowers (cymes) on top of hairy peduncles that are generally shorter than the leaves. The flowers are perfect, or appear so, with a hypanthium (floral cup) subtended bu 5 bracts. The 5 sepals are green, 4-10 mm long, the 5 white petals 6-14 mm long, with 20-40 stamens in 3 whorls and with many simple pistils on a hemispheric receptacle that enlarges into the fruit. The achenes are embedded in pits in the receptacle. Wild strawberries bloom from March into June on prairies, open woodlands and along streams and roadsides throughout South Dakota.

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  Rosaceae : Geum triflorum

  R. Neil Reese

  Geum triflorum is perennial herb growing from thick rhizomes, often forming large clumps, with flowering stems 20-40 cm tall. The stems are purplish in color, softly hairy, with a pair of opposite, smaller, finely dissected leaves about half way up. The basal leaves have blades 5-20 cm long, unequally pinnately divided into 7-19 lobes or pinnae up to 5 cm long, generally larger toward the tip. The inflorescences are cymes, with peduncles up to 10 cm long, with 3-4 nodding flowers. Each flower has a hemispherical hypanthium 4-5 mm long, with 5 purple sepals 8-12 mm long and simple to trifid bracts between them. There are 5 yellow to pink to purple rounded petals enclosed by, to exerted from the sepals and bracts. The stamens and pistils are numerous. The fruit are achenes ~ 3 mm long with purplish, plumose styles 2.5-5 cm long. Prairie smoke blooms from April into June on prairies and in open woodlands along the eastern and western borders of South Dakota.

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  Rosaceae : Prunus americana

  R. Neil Reese

  Prunus americana is a perennial, deciduous shrub or small tree, 2-6 m tall, usually forming thickets from root-suckers. There are generally many stems per plant, the older stems bark becomes dark gray and scaly, the younger stems are reddish brown to gray with a flaking waxy cuticle, typically smooth but occasionally with persistent hairs. The branches spread widely, with older lateral twigs developing into spines up to 7 cm long. the simple, alternate leaves have petioles 8-20 mm long, often with glands near the base of the blade and stipules 5-14 mm long. The leaf blade is ovate to lanceolate-ovate, 6-10 cm long, sharply pointed, the margins with teeth or doubled teeth, green and smooth above and with hairs on the lower side. The inflorescence consists of axillary and terminal clusters o 2-5 flowers on smooth pedicels 7-20 mm long, and usually appearing before the leaves and remaining as the leaves develop. The flowers have a conical hypanthium ~3 mm long, the 5 green, reflexed sepals are 3-4 mm long with hairs on the upper side. The 5 oblong ovate white petals are constricted (clawed)8-12 mm long. there are 20-30 stamens inserted on the edge of the hypanthium in several rows, with a single 2-carpeled pistil, the style 12-15 mm long with a capitate stigma. The fruit is a fleshy drupe, yellow to reddish-purple, 2-3 cm long and 2-2.5 cm in diameter, often having a waxy coating. Wild plums bloom in April and May and ripen in August and September. They are common in woodlands, thickets, pastures, along streams and roadsides throughout South Dakota.

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  Rosaceae : Prunus virginiana

  R. Neil Reese

  Prunus virginiana is a perennial, deciduous shrub or small tree that forms thickets from root sprouts and grows 2-6 m in height. The bark on the trunk and branches is red brown to dark brown in color. The simple, alternate leaves have petioles 1-3 cm long, with stipules 2-4 mm long and large glands near the base of the blade. The blades are ovate to obovate, 4-12 cm long, 3-6 cm wide, the rounded and the tip pointed, with small teeth on the margins. The upper leaf surface is usually dark green and shiny and the lower surface gray green, occasionally with hairs along the veins. the inflorescences are dense racemes terminating leafy twigs of the season. Each flower has a bell-shaped hypanthium ~1.5 mm long with 5 deciduous sepals 1-1.5 mm long. The 5 white petals are rounded, 3-4 mm long. there are 20-30 stamens in several rows surrounding a single ovoid ovary ~ 1.5 mm long. the fruit is a round, deep red to almost black, fleshy drupe, 8-11 mm in diameter. Chokecherries bloom in April and May in open woodlands, canyons, on prairies and along streams and roadways throughout South Dakota.

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  Rosaceae : Rosa arkansana

  R. Neil Reese

  Rosa arkansana is small perennial shrub growing from rhizomes, with a woody base and a mixture of woody and herbaceous stems that often die back to the ground each year. The 10-50 cm tall stems are sparkly to densely covered in unequal prickles. The alternate, petiolate leaves have stipules. The compound odd-pinnate blades have 7-11 obovate to elliptic leaflets, 1-4 cm long and < 3.5 cm wide, with small teeth on the upper 2/3 portion. The flowers are in corymb-like clusters, of 3 or more, at the ends of the new year’s branches and occasionally from side branches on the previous year’s growth. The rounded hypanthium has 5 sepals, 1.5-3 cm long and 3-5 mm wide, that are persistent with the fruit. The 5 white, pink to occasionally red petals are 1.5-3 cm long, obovate and usually notched. There are numerous stamens and 15-30 pistils that develop into achenes 3-5 mm long with long stiff hairs on one side. The accessory fruit (rose hips) contains the achenes. Prairie rose blooms from May into August on prairies, open woodlands and along roadsides throughout South Dakota.

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  Rosaceae : Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus

  R. Neil Reese

  Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus is the red raspberry native to North America. The plants are sub-shrubs from a perennial, rhizomatous rootstock, with stems that are semiwoody, erect to arching, 0.5-3 m in length, sparingly to copiously covered in prickles. The stems produce leaves the first year, leafy shoots and flowers from the leaf axils the second year, and then die back to the ground. The alternate, petiolate, compound leaves have 3 or 5 ovate to oblong leaflets 4-10 cm long. There are 1-2 pairs of lateral, unlobed, sessile leaflets, and a central leaflet, often 2 or 3 lobed, attached via a short rachis segment. Each leaflet has a pointed tip and rounded to heart-shaped base. The margins are single or double toothed, the upper surface is dark green, sparsely hairy to smooth and the lower surface is densely hairy, appearing silvery. The inflorescence consists of 1 to a few small axillary, leafy racemes each with several flowers. The hypanthium is flat to cupped, the green calyx has 5 reflexed lobes, 4-7 mm long, the 5 white, ascending, petals are narrowly oblong to spatulate, 4-6 mm long. there are numerous stamens and pistils inserted into a conic receptacle. The fruit is a cluster of red 1-seeded, finely hairy drupelets, 12-18 mm long. American wild raspberries bloom from May into July in open woodlands, on hillsides and along streambanks in counties scattered throughout South Dakota.

  Synonym: Rubus idaeus ssp. sachalinensis

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  Rosaceae : Rubus parviflorus

  R. Neil Reese

  Rubus parviflorus is a perennial shrub that spreads by rhizomes, with erect, unarmed stems 0.5-3 m long, the younger stems having glandular hairs and the older stems developing gray, exfoliating bark. The simple, alternate leaves are palmately lobed, 6-20 cm long and 11-18 cm wide, and the leaf margins are doubly toothed. The petioles are 6-15 cm long, often with glandular hairs, with attached, lanceolate stipules, 5-12 mm long. the inflorescence is a terminal cluster of 3-7 flowers. The flowers have a small hypanthium with 5 sepals, 10-16 mm long, with a tail-like appendage about ½ the length , and 5white, obovate petals, 2-2.5 cm long. there are numerous stamens and many, simple pistils that are inserted in a conical receptacle. The fruit is a thimble-like aggregate of red drupelets that fall as a unit leaving the persistent receptacle. Thimbleberries bloom from May into July in open woods, hillsides and along streambanks in western South Dakota.

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  Rubiaceae : Galium boreale

  R. Neil Reese

  Galium boreale is a perennial herb growing from a creeping rhizome with numerous, erect, often branched stems, 20-70 cm tall, that have clusters of hairs below the nodes. The sessile, simple, linear to lanceolate leaves are in whorls of 4, 3-4 cm long, often with fascicles of smaller leaves in their axils. The inflorescence consists of showy, terminal cymose panicles. The flowers have a small tubular calyx, the corolla is wheel-like, 3.5-7 mm wide, with 4 white to occasionally yellowish, reflexed lobes. There are 4 stamens and a 2-carpled pistil with 2 styles. The fruit is dry, globose, 2 mm long schizocarp the spits into 2 seed-like parts. Northern bedstraw blooms from June into September in prairies, woodlands, hillsides and roadways, often forming large colonies, in the Black Hills, the Coteau des Prairies and norther counties of South Dakota.

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  Salicaceae :Populus deltoides ssp. monilifera

  R. Neil Reese

  Populus deltoides is a large tree up to 40 m in height with a truck up to 2 m diameter at breast height, often branching near the base, ascending at a moderate angle and forming a very broad crown. The youn stens are olive brown to orangish, becoming grayish tan as they age, the main trunk and larger branches have tan bark the is deeply furrowed. The winter buds are brown, ovoid, resinous and large, 1-2 cm long. The simple, alternate, deciduous leaves are deltoid, 4-14 cm long, 4-15 cm wide, light green with rounded teeth and a pointed end. The petioles are long (3-13 cm) and laterally compressed. The trees are dioecious, the male trees producing staminate catkins 5-13 cm long with flowers containing up to 80 stamens. The female (pistilate) catkins are about the same length at flowering but elongating in fruit. The flowers contain a single pistil that forms an elliptic-ovoid, 3-4 valved capsule about 1 cm long containing 7-10 cottony seeds. Plains cottonwoods bloom in March into June, releasing seeds in June and July. Primarily riparian, the trees are found along streams, lakes and other moist areas throughout South Dakota.

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  Saxifragaceae : Heuchera richardsonii

  R. Neil Reese

  Heuchera richardsonii is a perennial herb from a stout, branched caudex with 1 or a few softly hairy stems, 15-70 cm tall. The leaves are basal with long petioles, the blades are heart to kidney shaped, 3-8 cm wide with 5-7 rounded lobes, smooth and green on top and lighter with hairs on the lower surface. The inflorescence is a raceme to narrow panicle, with glandular hairs, 5-20 cm long, the flowers in clusters of 2-6. The flowers have a green, well-developed, irregular, tubular hypanthium with 5 rounded lobes and short glandular hairs on the outer surface. The 5 stamens have orange anthers and are exerted from the floral tube. The 2 upper lobes of the tube are longest and tend to drape over the stamens. Although the flower color is usually green, it can becomes yellowish brown or reddish in sunnier locations. The 2-carpeled, partially inferior pistil is tapered into 2 styles up to 2.5 mm long. Prairie alumroot blooms in June and July in open woodlands and prairies in counties scattered throughout South Dakota.

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  Scrophulariaceae : Castilleja sessiliflora

  R. Neil Reese

  Castilleja sessiliflora is a perennial herb with simple, hairy, ascending to erect stems, 10-30 cm tall, growing from a woody crown. The simple, sessile, alternate, linear leaves are entire, or with the upper most having divergent lobes. The inflorescence is a spike with the flowers subtended by hairy, leafy bracts, shorter than the flowers, that become reduced and are often pink tipped toward the top. The calyx tube is 25-40 mm long, with primary lobes 12-20 mm long and the final with linear segments, 8-14 mm long. The corolla is purplish to yellow to cream colored, 35-55 mm long, forming a curved tube, with a prominent lower lip and conspicuously exerted beyond the bracts. The fruit is an ovate capsule. Downy paintbrush blooms from early May into July on dry plains and hillsides throughout South Dakota.

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  Scrophulariaceae : Linaria vulgaris

  R. Neil Reese

  Linaria vulgaris is a perennial from a taproot, with 1-several, simple or branched, ascending to erect stems, 30-60 cm tall. The simple, linear leaves are 2.5-5 cm long, 2-6 mm wide, with a pointed end and tapering to a petiolate base. The inflorescence is a crowded, terminal, bracteate raceme. The calyx is deeply 5-parted, the segments unequal, lanceolate and ~ 3 mm long. The yellow corolla is strongly bilabiate and spurred. The upper lip is 8-12 mm long, the lower lip has an orange, hairy palate that is 6-9 mm long, with a straight spur 8-14 mm long. there are 2 short and 2 long stamens, a single pistil with a 2-lobed stigma. The fruit is a globose capsule, 5-9 mm long. Butter and eggs blooms from June into August in disturbed places throughout South Dakota.

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  Scrophulariaceae : Penstemon albidus

  R. Neil Reese

  Penstemon albidus is a perennial herb arising from a short-branched caudex, with 1-5 hairy, ascending to erect stems, 15-50 cm tall. The basal leaves are petiolate, lanceolate to obovate, 2-10 cm long and 7-20 mm wide, the margins entire to finely toothed. The cauline leaves are simple, sessile, opposite, lanceolate to lance-ovate, 2.5-6.5 cm long and 7-20 mm wide, the tips pointed with entire to finely toothed margins. The inflorescence consist of 3-10 opposite pairs of flower clusters on short, peduncles arising from leaf axils in the upper plant, each cluster with 2 to 7 short-pedicellate flowers. The calyx is covered with glandular hairs, with 5 lobes, 4-7 mm long. the weakly bilabiate corolla is white to light pink, funnel-shaped, 6-8 mm wide with red-purple nectar guides on the inside. The lower lip has 3 nearly equal, downward pointing lobes, the upper lip is erect, with 2 lobes only slightly smaller than the lower lobes. There are 4-fertile (2-short, 2-Long) stamen and a sterile staminode. The fruit is an ovoid capsule 8-12 mm long. White beardtongue blooms from April into July on open prairies and hillsides throughout South Dakota.

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  Scrophulariaceae : Penstemon angustifolius

  R. Neil Reese

  Penstemon angustifolius is a perennial herb arising from a short-branched caudex, with 1-10, ascending to erect stems, 15-50 cm tall, often with a waxy coating. The basal thick leaves are sessile to having a short, winged petiole, linear to oblanceolate, 4-9 cm long and 2-18 mm wide, the margins entire. The cauline leaves are simple, sessile, clasping, opposite, linear to lanceolate, 3-11 cm long and 2-24 mm wide, the tips pointed with entire margins. All of the leaves are generally covered with a blue waxy coating. The inflorescence consist of 5-15 opposite pairs of flower clusters on short, peduncles arising from leaf axils in the upper plant, each cluster with 4 to 8 short-pedicellate flowers. The calyx is smooth and waxy, sometimes with a few short hairs, with 5 lobes, 4-8 mm long. The bilabiate corolla is white to lavender to blue, tubular, 14-20 mm long, 4-6 mm wide with violet to red-purple nectar guides on the inside. The 3 lobes of the lower lip and 2 lobes of the upper lip are slightly reflexed with a few white hairs on the inside of the lower lip. There are 4-fertile (2-short, 2-Long) stamen and a sterile staminode, that is bearded with yellow hairs. The fruit is an ovoid capsule 9-14 mm long. Narrowleaf beardtongue blooms in May and June on open prairies and sandhills in western South Dakota.

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  Scrophulariaceae: Penstemon gracilis

  R. Neil Reese

  Penstemon gracilis is a perennial herb with 1-several erect stems growing from a woody caudex, generally 20-50 cm tall and often reddish colored with glandular hairs toward the top. The simple basal leaves have a short, winged petiole, the lanceolate to ovate blade 2.5-7.5 cm long and 4-15 mm wide, with a few to many teeth. The linear to lanceolate cauline leaves are opposite, clasping the stem, 2.5=9 cm long and 2-15 mm wide, with similarly toothed margins. The leaves are smooth to sparsely hairy. The inflorescence is a panicle, 5-21 cm long, of 2-6 flowered axillary cymes. The 5 calyx lobes are 4-6 mm long and up to 2 mm wide, with glandular hairs. The corolla is bilabiate, 15-22 mm long, pale lavender to pink externally and lighter colored within. The slender corolla tube has glandular hairs, the throat is 4-6 mm wide, with darker lines inside and a beard of whitish hairs going back about halfway. The upper lip is reflexed, and the lower lip extended. The 4 black-tipped stamens hug the upper surface, and a sterile lower stamen forms a beard of yellow hairs. The fruit is a 6-8 mm long capsule. Slender beardtongue blooms from May to August on sandy or gravelly soil in prairies, valleys, and at lower elevations in mountains throughout much of South Dakota.