Single Record

Participant Info

Species
Chondrophylla prostrata [Gentiana prostrata]
Family
Gentianaceae
CommonName
Siberian gentian
Presence
YES
Status
native
EarliestDate
1968
LatestDate
2019
Ecosystem
subalpine, tundra
Geobotanical
Garitas, SSanjuans, Culebras, NCristos
Counties
Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache, San Juan
Passes
Elwood, Grayback, Stony
WildlifePreserves
Other Localities
Comments
Siberian gentian has been recorded, locally, from all mountain regions of the Watershed except for the south Sawatch Range (although it is found in that range farther north). This tiny gentian likes wet grassy habitats around snow melt, by rills, on wet ledges, in "'understory' of tundra vegetation" (Sharples 2017). It is hard to see and, according to Hogan and Elliot (2022), in the North Cristos it is seldom collected. Chondrophylla prostrata barely extends into New Mexico, with only one collection, from Taos Co near the border with Colorado. All other collections from New Mexico are Chondrophylla fremontii, according to Allred et al. (2020). The USA distribution covers Western states (with the exception of Washington, Arizona, and New Mexico), with very scattered alpine locations, possibly glacial refugia.