Single Record

Species: Mertensia brevistyla [Mertensia fusiformis] [Mertensia fendleri var. fendleri] [Mertensia alpina var. brevistyla]t

PhotoRecords: YES Rich Haswell: Penitente Canyon, Saguache Co, June 2018; 2014.

Comments: Recently POWO and BONAP have synonymized Mertensia fusiformis under M. brevistyla. So determined, M. brevistyla has been officially recorded from three Watershed counties, all on the west side of the Valley: Mineral Co (Deep Creek trail S of Creede 2004, East Willow Creek near Creede 2004, and La Garita Creek NNE of Creede 2004); Rio Grande Co (Church Creek near South Fork 1984); and Saguache Co (Penitente Canyon 2018, 2024. Some of these specimens were determined before Nazaire and Hufford's revision of Mertensia (2014), and the extent of the presence of the species in the Watershed remains largely unknown until vouchers are re-examined. In the past, there was also a confusion with "Mertensia oblongifolia," a name used by many collectors and determiners. M. brevistyla may have a much more extensive presence in the Watershed (BONAP shows Rio Grande, Mineral, and Hinsdale counties, but not Saguache. As M. brevistyla or M. fusiformis, the species is common in the Rocky Mountains, with the Watershed apparently marking the extent of its southeastern range