Single Record
Participant Info
- Species
- Bistorta vivipara [Polygonum viviparum]
- Family
- Polygonaceae
- CommonName
- alpine bistort
- Presence
- YES
- Status
- native
- EarliestDate
- 1900
- LatestDate
- 2019
- Ecosystem
- montane, subalpine, tundra
- Geobotanical
- Garitas, SSanjuans, Culebras, NCristos
- Counties
- Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache, San Juan
- Passes
- Elwood, Indian Creek, La Veta, Stony, Wolf Creek
- WildlifePreserves
- Other Localities
- Comments
- In the Watershed, alpine bistort is common in montane wet forest openings and creek meadows on up into alpine meadows—in all mountain regions except the south Sawatch Range (although occurring in that range farther north). In the New Mexico Rio Grande drainage, Bistorta vivipara has been recorded as far south as Otero Co. It is primarily a Rocky Mountain species, extending up to the Canadian border, with scattered locations in the Intermountain region. How this plant manages to continue generation after generation is a bit of a miracle. The renowned bulblets ("vivipara") generated along the stem are usually sterile toward the distal end, the stamens are poorly developed, and achenes are rarely produced.
- Annotation