Plants
Plants are an incredibly diverse class of organisms that includes towering redwood trees, single-celled algae, and everything in between. Many plants perform the critical process of photosynthesis, which converts carbon dioxide and sunlight into food for a wide array of other creatures, including humans. Plants are also an important source of medicine and fuel, help filter our air and water, and are critical in regulating our climate.
Clay-Loving Wild Buckwheat
Clay-loving wild buckwheat is a higly endangered plant found only on the Adobe Hills east of Delta and Montrose in western Colorado. Its habitat is increasingly threatened by off-road vehicles, suburban sprawl, and new highway building.
Colorado Butterfly Plant
The Colorado butterfly plant is a streamside gem with red fuzzy stems and delicate white flowers that change from white to red as they age. Non-selective herbicide spraying, haying and mowing at certain times of year, water diversion, competition from exotic plants, and urban sprawl all threaten this species.
Colorado Hookless Cactus
Only recently did the Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledge that the Colorado hookless cactus was actually a separate species and warrants protection in its own right. Oil and gas drilling in western Colorado is the primary threat to this rare, beautiful species, as is illegal collecting for landscaping and indoor gardens.
DeBeque Milkvetch
DeBeque Milkvetch is one of Colorado’s most endangered native wildflowers. Found only in the Roan Plateau area, it survives in only eight populations, all of which are at risk from a variety of threats including oil and gas drilling, irresponsible recreation, and poor grazing management.
DeBeque Phacelia
DeBeque phacelia lives in only a small portion of western Colorado near the town of DeBeque. Oil and gas drilling is threatening this wildflower’s survival — almost all of the phacelia sites are on Bureau of Land Management lands already leased for oil and gas drilling.
Desert Yellowhead
A member of the sunflower or aster family, the desert yellowhead was not only an undescribed species, it was so unusual that a new genus was created in naming it. Its highly restricted distribution places it at great risk of extinction, and mining and off-road vehicle use make its status even more precarious.
Duchesne Milkvetch
Found only in the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado, the Duchesne milkvetch shows purple and white flowers in the late spring, and can survive dry periods by staying dormant in its sandy soil habitat for entire years. Oil and gas drilling threatens its remaining habitat.
Graham’s Penstemon
As well adapted as Graham’s penstemon is to its harsh environment, it doesn’t stand a chance against oil and gas drilling and exploration activities, off-road vehicles, or livestock trampling. This species is found only within a small stretch of northwestern Colorado and Utah’s Uinta Basin.
Mussentuchit Gilia
The Mussentuchit gilia (Gilia tenuis), found only in Utah, is a strikingly beautiful plant with pale blue trumpet-shaped flowers. The flower is named after the Mussentuchit (pronounced Musn’t-touch-it) Desert north of Capitol Reef National Park. Fewer than 2,500 plants remain.
Narrowleaf Evening Primrose
The rare habitat type of the narrowleaf evening primrose, also called the Flaming Gorge evening-primrose, is especially sensitive to disturbance, including excessive livestock trampling and off-road vehicles. Its range is restricted to the northeast corner of Utah and the northwest corner of Colorado.
Parachute Penstemon
Parachute penstemon is a beautiful native wildflower, one of the rarest in North America. Known from only five locations on the Roan Plateau in western Colorado, it faces enormous threats from oil and gas drilling.
Pariette Cactus
The Pariette cactus is one of Utah’s most beautiful and endangered wildlflowers. A proposal for more than 900 wells in the one Uinta Basin drainage where it lives now threatens its very survival.
Porter Feathergrass
Porter feathergrass is found nowhere in the world but Colorado’s South Park. The feathergrass inhabits rare wetlands, some of which date to the last ice age.
Uinta Basin Hookless Cactus
Only recently did biologists acknowledge that this tiny gem was actually a separate species and warrants protection in its own right. Rampant oil and gas drilling and proposed oil shale projects in northeastern Utah’s Uinta Basin, the plant’s only home, threaten its remaining populations.
Ute Ladies’-Tresses Orchid
This foot-tall orchid, with its tall column of ivory-colored flowers, prefers open, marshy meadows. Loss of habitat through agriculture and development is a major threat to the sustainability of this species.