Single Record

Participant Info

Species
Phemeranthus confertiflorus [Phemeranthus parviflorus] [Talinum confertiflorum] [Talinum parviflorum] etc.
Family
Montiaceae
CommonName
fameflower, flamethrower, sunbright, rock rose, rock pink, phemeranthus
Presence
YES
Status
native
EarliestDate
1922
LatestDate
2024
Ecosystem
shrubland, foothill, montane
Geobotanical
SSawatch, SSanjuans, NCristos
Counties
Conejos, Rio Grande, Saguache
Passes
WildlifePreserves
Great Sand Dunes
Other Localities
Comments
Phemeranthus parviflorus has not often been collected from the Watershed, only around a dozen times. It seems to prefer open spots in lightly forested dry slopes, for instance near Terrace Reservoir in Conejos Co; foothills a few miles south of Del Norte in Rio Grande Co; beside a subdivision lane up Alder Creek a little north of South Fork in Rio Grande Co; or the South Sawatch range NW of Saguache in Saguache Co. Typically it grows in thinly soiled rocky terrain; one occurrence was in “sandy cracks in granite”; another was sandy substrate near Deadman's Creek in the northern part of the Great Sand Dunes (iNaturalist #89830610, 31 July 2021). Recent records are from a little south of Del Norte, Rio Grande Co (31 Aug 2022, Naturalist observation #133129646; 24 July 2024, Rich Haswell, photorecord). The species follows the Rio Grande drainage in New Mexico to the Mexican border and on down into Big Bend country of Texas. Note that POWO and Allred, et al. (2020) subsume P. confertiflorus under P. parviflorus since the distinguishing features intergrade; but other authorities (e. g., BONAP) keep the two species separate, in part because geographically the two do not overlap. For distinguishing features, see Ferguson 2001. The common name "fameflower," by the way, is a false etymology—the genus epithet derives from the Greek ephemeros for "lasting a day," referring to the very short period that the inflorescence is open, not from the Greek pheme for "fame." And "conferti" is from the Latin word for "crowded."