Single Record

Participant Info

Species
Phacelia neomexicana
Family
Hydrophyllaceae
CommonName
New Mexico scorpion-weed
Presence
YES
Status
native
EarliestDate
1939
LatestDate
2014
Ecosystem
foothill, montane
Geobotanical
Garitas, SSanjuans, NCristos
Counties
Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache
Passes
Carnero, La Veta
WildlifePreserves
Other Localities
Comments
This account of Phacelia neomexicana in the Watershed rests on about 20 records so named and accepted by SEINet. The Watershed range (both sides of the Valley) overlaps with P. alba, and clearly the overlap is due in part to problems in determination. Perhaps the surest differentiation between the two species is not color of corolla but instead size of mature seed. Ackerfield (2022) and BONAP (2022) believe all the Watershed vouchers are P. alba, since neither shows P. neomexicana in Colorado. The 2014 photorecord of P. neomexicana from Conejos Co is reasonable, however, since that species is present in New Mexico counties that border the Watershed. The species is well named, since its USA distribution (according to BONAP) is confined to New Mexico, with a few locations in extreme western Arizona. It follows the Rio Grande drainage in New Mexico to the Mexican border.