Peck's Penstemon / Center For Plant Conservation
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Peck's Penstemon (Penstemon peckii)

Peck\'s penstemon, Penstemon peckii

Photo Credit: Kris Freitag
  • Global Rank: G3 - Vulnerable
  • Legal Status: N/A
  • Family: Plantaginaceae
  • State: OR
  • Nature Serve ID: 135426
  • Lifeform: Forb/herb, Subshrub
  • Date Inducted in National Collection:
Description:

A perennial herb, mostly 2.5-7 dm tall, with pale purple (sometimes almost white) funnel-shaped flowers blooming on the top portion of the stems. Blooms June to early August. (NatureServe 2018)

Where is Peck's Penstemon (Penstemon peckii) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Dry, sandy loams, usually at lower elevations (680-1090 m) with ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa).  (NatureServe 2018)

Distribution:

Endemic to the east slope of the Oregon Cascades, from a limited area in northern Deschutes and southern Jefferson Counties, about 5x20 square miles. (NatureServe 2018)

States & Provinces:

Peck's Penstemon can be found in Oregon

Which CPC Partners conserve Peck's Penstemon (Penstemon peckii)?

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

Kris Freitag
  • 09/20/2022

As part of CPC's IMLS funded initiative to determine seed storage longevity in wild rare plant species, seed of Peck’s penstemon (Penstemon peckii) was collected in the Deschutes National Forest in central Oregon. This delicate, bluish-flowered penstemon is found only in three counties, right in the center of Oregon. It grows in ponderosa pine forests and associated open grasslands, on volcanic soil. It is locally abundant, and with about 30-50 tiny seeds per capsule, the population easily provided us with the “fresh” collection we needed for the CPC study.

Center for Plant Conservation
  • 08/19/2021
  • Orthodox Seed Banking

In 2021, CPC contracted Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank to recollect seed from a population currently held in long term orthodox seed storage as part of an IMLS-funded seed longevity experiment. The National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation will evaluate how germination tested viability and RNA Integrity of seed lots decline over time in storage.

  • 10/13/2020
  • Demographic Research

In 1992, Forest Ecologist Cindi O'Neil conducted a Species Conservation Strategy for Penstemon peckii. There exists 69 populations of Penstemon peckii with 64 of these populations located in the Sisters Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest. From this conservation study, it was concluded that Penstemon peckii is best adapted to open full sun habitats, low vegetative competition and natural fire (historical fire frequency was 7 to 15 years before intense fire suppression efforts).

  • 10/13/2020
  • Propagation Research

In 1992, Forest Ecologist Cindi O'Neil conducted a Species Conservation Strategy for Penstemon peckii. There exists 69 populations of Penstemon peckii with 64 of these populations located in the Sisters Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest. From this conservation study, it was concluded that Penstemon peckii is best adapted to open full sun habitats, low vegetative competition and natural fire (historical fire frequency was 7 to 15 years before intense fire suppression efforts). What they did not know was how long Peck's penstemon seeds remained viable in the soil seed bank. In the summer of 1992, 62,500 seeds were collected from 203 maternal lines which were distributed among 11 separate populations across the range. Approximately 45,000 seeds were placed in ex situ seed bank and 17,500 seeds were bulked from all different populations in order to form one single sample to draw from. A total number of 12,000 seeds were buried in situ soil storage (3 replicates in different places in the range of the species) and 5,500 seeds were placed in frozen ex situ storage at RSBSB as part of this experiment. A series of initial germination trials were performed using different techniques involving both fresh seeds gathered that fall compared to dried and frozen seeds. Later trials compared seeds stored in situ with seeds stored ex situ in intervals of 6 months, 12 months, 18 months and then 4 years, 15 years and now 25 years. The original initial germination trial using 500 seeds (100 seeds in 5 different germination trays) revealed that the dry and frozen seeds did slightly better than the controlled seeds yielding between 55% to 65% germination. Subsequently, a 6 month trial was performed on the previous sample trays to compare whether re-moistened seeds or re-dried seeds yielded better results. Results were inconclusive but it appeared that some seeds required "drying down" in order to germinate. The 25-year Trial is still ongoing but so far approximately 26% of the seeds stored in the soil have germinated. For unknown reason, the seeds stored in the freezer have yielded 51% germination within the 15 to 25 year mark. Conclusions of this study are as follows: (1) Yes, Penstemon peckii is capable of forming a long-lived soil seed bank. (2) Thus, simply getting shaded out by competing vegetation is not necessarily a death sentence for a population. (Guerrant 2018)

  • 10/13/2020
  • Seed Collection

In 1992, Forest Ecologist Cindi O'Neil conducted a Species Conservation Strategy for Penstemon peckii. There exists 69 populations of Penstemon peckii with 64 of these populations located in the Sisters Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest. From this conservation study, it was concluded that Penstemon peckii is best adapted to open full sun habitats, low vegetative competition and natural fire (historical fire frequency was 7 to 15 years before intense fire suppression efforts). What they did not know was how long Peck's penstemon seeds remained viable in the soil seed bank. In the summer of 1992, 62,500 seeds were collected from 203 maternal lines which were distributed among 11 separate populations across the range. Approximately 45,000 seeds were placed in ex situ seed bank and 17,500 seeds were bulked from all different populations in order to form one single sample to draw from. A total number of 12,000 seeds were buried in situ soil storage (3 replicates in different places in the range of the species) and 5,500 seeds were placed in frozen ex situ storage at RSBSB as part of this experiment. A series of initial germination trials were performed using different techniques involving both fresh seeds gathered that fall compared to dried and frozen seeds. Later trials compared seeds stored in situ with seeds stored ex situ in intervals of 6 months, 12 months, 18 months and then 4 years, 15 years and now 25 years. The original initial germination trial using 500 seeds (100 seeds in 5 different germination trays) revealed that the dry and frozen seeds did slightly better than the controlled seeds yielding between 55% to 65% germination. Subsequently, a 6 month trial was performed on the previous sample trays to compare whether re-moistened seeds or re-dried seeds yielded better results. Results were inconclusive but it appeared that some seeds required "drying down" in order to germinate. The 25-year Trial is still ongoing but so far approximately 26% of the seeds stored in the soil have germinated. For unknown reason, the seeds stored in the freezer have yielded 51% germination within the 15 to 25 year mark. Conclusions of this study are as follows: (1) Yes, Penstemon peckii is capable of forming a long-lived soil seed bank. (2) Thus, simply getting shaded out by competing vegetation is not necessarily a death sentence for a population. (Guerrant 2018)

  • 10/13/2020
  • Orthodox Seed Banking

In 1992, Forest Ecologist Cindi O'Neil conducted a Species Conservation Strategy for Penstemon peckii. There exists 69 populations of Penstemon peckii with 64 of these populations located in the Sisters Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest. From this conservation study, it was concluded that Penstemon peckii is best adapted to open full sun habitats, low vegetative competition and natural fire (historical fire frequency was 7 to 15 years before intense fire suppression efforts). What they did not know was how long Peck's penstemon seeds remained viable in the soil seed bank. In the summer of 1992, 62,500 seeds were collected from 203 maternal lines which were distributed among 11 separate populations across the range. Approximately 45,000 seeds were placed in ex situ seed bank and 17,500 seeds were bulked from all different populations in order to form one single sample to draw from. A total number of 12,000 seeds were buried in situ soil storage (3 replicates in different places in the range of the species) and 5,500 seeds were placed in frozen ex situ storage at RSBSB as part of this experiment. A series of initial germination trials were performed using different techniques involving both fresh seeds gathered that fall compared to dried and frozen seeds. Later trials compared seeds stored in situ with seeds stored ex situ in intervals of 6 months, 12 months, 18 months and then 4 years, 15 years and now 25 years. The original initial germination trial using 500 seeds (100 seeds in 5 different germination trays) revealed that the dry and frozen seeds did slightly better than the controlled seeds yielding between 55% to 65% germination. Subsequently, a 6 month trial was performed on the previous sample trays to compare whether re-moistened seeds or re-dried seeds yielded better results. Results were inconclusive but it appeared that some seeds required "drying down" in order to germinate. The 25-year Trial is still ongoing but so far approximately 26% of the seeds stored in the soil have germinated. For unknown reason, the seeds stored in the freezer have yielded 51% germination within the 15 to 25 year mark. Conclusions of this study are as follows: (1) Yes, Penstemon peckii is capable of forming a long-lived soil seed bank. (2) Thus, simply getting shaded out by competing vegetation is not necessarily a death sentence for a population. (Guerrant 2018)

Elvia Ryan
  • 07/31/2018

Penstemon peckii is currently listed as G3 and Fed SOC.  (Guerrant 2018)

Elvia Ryan
  • 07/21/2018

In 1992, Forest Ecologist Cindi O'Neil conducted a Species Conservation Strategy for Penstemon peckii.  There exists 69 populations of Penstemon peckii with 64 of these populations located in the Sisters Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest.  From this conservation study, it was concluded that Penstemon peckii is best adapted to open full sun habitats, low vegetative competition and natural fire (historical fire frequency was 7 to 15 years before intense fire suppression efforts).  What they did not know was how long Peck's penstemon seeds remained viable in the soil seed bank.  In the summer of 1992, 62,500 seeds were collected from 203 maternal lines which were distributed among 11 separate populations across the range.  Approximately 45,000 seeds were placed in ex situ seed bank and 17,500 seeds were bulked from all different populations in order to form one single sample to draw from.  A total number of 12,000 seeds were buried in situ soil storage (3 replicates in different places in the range of the species) and 5,500 seeds were placed in frozen ex situ storage at RSBSB as part of this experiment.  A series of initial germination trials were performed using different techniques involving both fresh seeds gathered that fall compared to dried and frozen seeds.  Later trials compared seeds stored in situ with seeds stored ex situ in intervals of 6 months, 12 months, 18 months and then 4 years, 15 years and now 25 years.  The original initial germination trial using 500 seeds (100 seeds in 5 different germination trays) revealed that the dry and frozen seeds did slightly better than the controlled seeds yielding between 55% to 65% germination.  Subsequently, a 6 month trial was performed on the previous sample trays to compare whether re-moistened seeds or re-dried seeds yielded better results.  Results were inconclusive but it appeared that some seeds required "drying down" in order to germinate.  The 25-year Trial is still ongoing but so far approximately 26% of the seeds stored in the soil have germinated.  For unknown reason, the seeds stored in the freezer have yielded 51% germination within the 15 to 25 year mark.  Conclusions of this study are as follows:  (1) Yes, Penstemon peckii is capable of forming a long-lived soil seed bank.  (2) Thus, simply getting shaded out by competing vegetation is not necessarily a death sentence for a population.  (Guerrant 2018)

Elvia Ryan
  • 07/21/2018

The area is heavily used for recreational activities, and has scattered housing and business properties.  Historical natural fire frequency was 7 to 15 years before intense fire suppression efforts. (Guerrant 2018)

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Nomenclature
Taxon Penstemon peckii
Authority Pennell
Family Plantaginaceae
CPC Number 3260
ITIS 33743
USDA PEPE10
Duration Perennial
Common Names Peck's Beardtongue
Associated Scientific Names Penstemon peckii
Distribution Endemic to the east slope of the Oregon Cascades, from a limited area in northern Deschutes and southern Jefferson Counties, about 5x20 square miles. (NatureServe 2018)
State Rank
State State Rank
Oregon S3
Ecological Relationships

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