RARE II, Imperiled Plants of Colorado: Exhibit at the Ft. Collins Museum of Discovery

The Fort Collins Museum of Discovery (Mason and Cherry streets) is hosting the amazing art exhibit, RARE II, Imperiled Plants of Colorado, May 6 - August 6, 2017. The exhibit was organized by our important partners from the Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists.

The illustrations are beautiful, highly accurate, and significant because they call attention to these little-known rare and imperiled plant species found in Colorado, and, in many cases, are not known from anywhere else in the world. The Colorado Rare Plant Conservation Initiative identifies lack of awareness as one of the most noteworthy threats to these species' long-term viability. For additional information about these and other Colorado rare plants, please visit the Colorado Rare Plant Guide, hosted on the Colorado Natural Heritage Program website.

Big thanks to the Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists and the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery!

CNHP Botanist Jill Handwerk Receives Award from Colorado Native Plant Society

Jill Handwerk, CNHP Botanist and our fearless Botany Team Leader, was presented with a well-deserved Special Merit Award from the Colorado Native Plant Society. The Society honored Jill's outstanding efforts as a former President and Vice President, and her work to protect rare native plants through the Rare Plant Symposium, Adopt a Rare Plant Program, and the Rare Plant Technical Committee.

At CNHP, Jill manages all of our rare plant data for Colorado, and leads survey and monitoring projects for rare plants with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Denver Botanic Gardens, and the Colorado Natural Areas Program. Jill is the perfect example of the difference one person can make in the protection and conservation of Colorado's native plants. Congratulations, Jill!

Colorado Rare Plant Symposium and 40th Native Plant Society Meeting: Sept 23-25, 2016

Mark your calendars! It's almost time for the Colorado Rare Plant Symposium and Native Plant Society Annual Meeting. This year, the event will be held in Boulder at the University of Colorado East Campus in the MacAllister Building. The Symposium will be held on Friday, Sept. 23. The Colorado Native Plant Society Annual Meeting will be held on Sat. and Sun., Sept 24 and 25. Join botanists and plant enthusiasts from around the state to learn about Colorado's rare and native plants. To register for the Symposium, click here. To register for the Annual Meeting, click here.

Happy Native Plant Appreciation Week!

Thanks to the Colorado Native Plant Society (CoNPS), June 10th-June 16th is now formally recognized by the state of Colorado as Native Plant Appreciation Week. The goal of Native Plant Appreciation Week is to recognize and celebrate the nearly 3,000 native plant species that are found in Colorado. The state contains 132 endemic plant species that are found only in Colorado. Additionally, a total of 521 of the state's native plant species are considered rare and are tracked by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program. The observance coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Colorado Native Plant Society. Here are a few ways you can celebrate Native Plant Week in Colorado:

• Visit natural areas, public lands, and botanic gardens to see Colorado's native plants
• Join the Colorado Native Plant Society
• Take a native plant walk with CoNPS
• Landscape with native plants
• Donate to a non-profit that supports the conservation and/or restoration of native plants
• Volunteer your time to help with restoration projects that use native plants

Arkansas Valley evening primrose (Oenothera harringtonii) is found only in Colorado, and is tracked by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program as a rare plant species.

Provide Your Comments for the Newly Updated Colorado Rare Plant Guide

By Susan Panjabi

The Colorado Rare Plant Guide now contains updated species profiles for rare plants listed as Candidate, Threatened, or Endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. CNHP botanist Susan Panjabi is accepting comment on these species profiles through July 31, 2015. The profiles contain new, beautiful artwork by the Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists, as well as photographs by local botanists. Mancos milkvetch (Astragalus humillimus) is an excellent example of an updated profile, with new photos from botanist Steve O'Kane, and artwork by Vanessa Martin (see drawing below). Mancos milkvetch is a federally listed Endangered plant known from a small area in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. Please contact Susan with edits, as well as any additional information, photographs or artwork related to these rare plant species.

A drawing of Mancos milkvetch (Astragalus humillimus) by Vanessa Martin. Martin is a member of the Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists.

New Graham's Beardtongue Population Found

During a recent rare plant survey funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, CNHP botanist/ecologist Delia Malone discovered a new population of Graham's beardtongue (Penstemon grahamii) south of Rangely, Colorado. This rare plant is known from only six other occurrences in the state of Colorado. Graham's beardtongue is found on raw shale slopes and knolls of the Green River Formation in Rio Blanco County, Colorado, as well as three counties in eastern Utah: Carbon, Duchesne, and Uintah.

The bright white and caramel-colored shales of the Green River Formation, which often look like pieces of broken plates, give rise to highly basic soils. These soils support a very unique plant community dominated by dwarf shrubs like spiny greasebush (Glossopetalon spinescens) and shadcale saltbush (Atriplex confertifolia). Forbs species such as dragon milkvetch (Astragalus lutosus) and ephedra buckwheat (Eriogonum ephedroides) are also commonly found growing on Green River shales in occupied Graham's beardtongue habitat. This species is considered Sensitive by the BLM.  

Lured in by the bright yellow, protruding staminode called a beardtongue, a Pseudomasaris wasp lands inside the corolla of a rare Graham's beardtongue outside of Rangely, Colorado.

  

The Celastrina Project:Building Future Conservation Biologists at CSU

CNHP just launched a crowdfunding campaign: The Celastrina Project! The goal of the Celastrina Project is to help Colorado State University students develop, execute, and present their own research on a rare Colorado plant, animal or ecosystem. Donations for the project will be used to pay stipends, field supplies, and travel costs for CSU students. Read more about the project, check out the Celastrina Project video, and how to donate by clicking here.

The idea for this project began in 2014, when CNHP sponsored the first Celastrina Project honors student to study the population ecology of the hops blue butterfly (Celastrina humulus), pictured above.

CSU undergraduate student Callie Puntenney presents results from her honor's thesis on hops blue butterfly population ecology.

CNHP Director Attends Plant Conservation Alliance Meeting in Washington, D.C.

CNHP director David Anderson recently attended meetings in Washington, D.C. organized by the Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA). The PCA is a public-private-agency partnership of organizations that work to maintain, enhance, and restore native plant populations and communities. Anderson worked with other non-federal cooperators during the meeting to identify strategies for plant conservation. He presented information on the addition of rare plants to the Colorado State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP), as well as the Rare Plant Conservation Initiative project that helped prompt this exciting addition to the Colorado SWAP. Crafting a bill to create a National Plant Conservation program was the primary strategy identified by the group. Anderson, along with other PCA members, also met with members of the appropriations committees and federal agency leaders to discuss plant conservation, including the National Seed Strategy. After the Strategic Planning Meeting, Anderson was able to participate in a tasting of botanical spirits hosted by the United States Botanical Garden and led by Dwight Grimm. Grimm is a vermoutheir and founder of the Little Alchemist Farm. He produces small-batch herbal spirits, elixirs, and oils from his farm in Preston Hollow, New York.

CNHP director Dave Anderson (far right) with other participants in the Non-Federal Cooperators Committee Strategic Planning Meeting.