Participant Info

Species

Phacelia alba [Phacelia neomexicana var. alba]

Family

Hydrophyllaceae

CommonName

white phacelia

Presence

YES

Status

native

EarliestDate

1900

LatestDate

2021

Ecosystem

foothill, montane

Geobotanical

SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans, NCristos

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache

Passes

La Veta

WildlifePreserves

Baca, Coller, Great Sand Dunes, Hot Creek, Mountain Home Reservoir

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

YES Rich Haswell: Rio Grande Co, Lookout Mountain just S of Del Norte 4 Sept 2021 (seeds); Saguache Co, Penitente Canyon 25 July 2015

Comments

In the Watershed, this common mid-elevation scorpion-weed prefers dry open foothill and montane slopes. Occasionally it can be found on roadsides. It has not been collected from the Culebras but probably is present there judging from the New Mexico records. Some herbarium vouchers of P. neomexicana are probably P. alba, since size of the seed may be the only definitive way to separate the two species. The USA distribution is mainly Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. The species follows the Rio Grande drainage through New Mexico to the Mexican border but not farther into Texas. Note that in the North Cristos Hogan and Elliot (2022) found it on the west slopes (in the Watershed) but not on the east slopes (outside the Watershed).

Annotation