Single Record

Participant Info

Species
Mentzelia rusbyi [Nuttallia rusbyi]
Family
Loasaceae
CommonName
Rusby’s blazingstar
Presence
YES
Status
native
EarliestDate
1981
LatestDate
2018
Ecosystem
basin, foothill, montane, ruderal
Geobotanical
SSanjuans
Counties
Conejos, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache
Passes
WildlifePreserves
Other Localities
Comments
Rusby's blazingstar has been fairly often collected from the San Juan foothills but not farther north in the Garita and Sawatch ranges. On the east side of the Valley, there is only one collection, from the Crestone campground. The species is difficult to identify (but easy if you have the seed), and the distribution deduced from these records remains tentative. The flower enjoys dry foothill slopes and roadsides. The USA distribution is northeast Arizona, west Utah, west and central Colorado (with an extension down the Arkansas drainage, and most of New Mexico, where It follows the Rio Grande drainage to the Mexican border (but not farther down stream).