Participant Info

Species

Phacelia bakeri [Phacelia crenulata var. bakeri]

Family

Hydrophyllaceae

CommonName

Baker’s phacelia

Presence

YES

Status

native

EarliestDate

1911

LatestDate

2021

Ecosystem

montane, subalpine, tundra

Geobotanical

Garitas, SSanjuans, Culebras

Counties

Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache, San Juan

Passes

Cumbres, Elwood, Los Pinos, Stony

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

YES Scott F. Smith: Stony pass, San Juan Co, 22 July 2021; Rich Haswel: East Willow Creek, Mineral Co, 4 Sept 2013 above Creede

Comments

Collected fairly often from the Watershed, Baker's phacelia (Phacelia bakeri) typically occupies rocky tundra terrain such as scree, but also dry slopes down into the montane (e.g., Alamosa canyon in Conejos Co and Dry Gulch near Creede in Mineral Co). It is occasionally found along road sides. P. bakeri has not yet been collected from the northern Cristos of the Watershed. It has been found in the Cristos alpine of Taos Co, New Mexico. Except for these locations and a few others in New Mexico, the species would be endemic to Colorado. Note that to distinguish Phacelia bakeri from P. glandulosa, the seed has to be examined. Acccording to Ackerfield (2022), compared to P. glandulosa, P. bakeri grows at a much wider range of elevation: P. bakeri 6,500'-12,600'; P. glandulosa 8,500'-9,500'.

Annotation