Participant Info

Species

Vahlodea atropurpurea [Deschampsia atropurpurea] [Avena atropurpurea] [Aira atropurpurea]

Family

Poaceae

CommonName

mountain hairgrass

Presence

maybe

Status

native

EarliestDate

1998

LatestDate

1998

Ecosystem

montane, subalpine, tundra

Geobotanical

SSawatch, SSanjuans

Counties

Conejos, Mineral

Passes

Elwood

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

Comments

NEED IN SITU PHOTOS. Mountain hairgrass, so named, has been vouchered three times from the Watershed, but all three determinations seem to have been discounted. The one from Russell Lakes WPA (Saguache Co, 1990) is easily dismissed because of its low elevation. A second, from Fets Plateau (Conejos Co, 2003) is accepted by Ackerfield (2022) but not BONAP (2025). The third, from Elwood pass (Rio Grande Co, 1998) was re-determined as Deschampsia caespitosa by Kelly Allred. BONAP (2025) shows Mineral Co, with a location or locations that may or may not lie in the Watershed. Vahlodea atropurpurea is a high-elevation grass of wet meadows. In the USA, It grows in the Cascades of Caliornia, Oregon, and Washington, and also follows the Rocky Mountains down from the Canadian border through Colorado. The Mineral Co location(s) of BONAP would mark the extreme southern extent of this distribution, and the only occurrence(s) in the entire Rio Grande drainage.

Annotation