Participant Info

Species

Pterospora andromedea

Family

Ericaceae

CommonName

pinedrops, Albany beechdrops, giant bird’s nest

Presence

YES

Status

native

EarliestDate

1984

LatestDate

2022

Ecosystem

montane

Geobotanical

SSanjuans, NCristos

Counties

Conejos, Costilla, Rio Grande, Saguache

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

YES Mary E. McDonald: Conejos Co, the Conejos River between Mogote and Aspen Glade campgrounds 24 Aug 2020

Comments

So far Watershed pinedrops are recorded from only a few locations: Forbes Park near Fort Garland (Costilla Co); Conejos River and west of Antonito, three records (Conejos Co); near Pinos Creek southwest of Del Norte (Rio Grande Co); on Trout Creek trail 2.5 miles NW of South Fork (iNaturalist photorecord 138078440, 2022); and in the north Cristos, Dead Man and Medano canyons, four records (Saguache Co). Pterospora andromedea, an epiparasite, takes its energy from fungi but offers no benefit in return. The range of this monotypic genus is western USA and northern Mexico. It follows the Rio Grande drainage to the Mexican border but not on down through Texas.

Annotation