DeBeque Phacelia
Look first for tiny low annual with cream tubular flowers and noticeably hairy leaves, then confirm it in cracking clay badlands near de beque and the roan plateau. Those two clues make DeBeque Phacelia much easier to identify responsibly in Colorado.
Artwork inspired by Vance Kirkland
DeBeque phacelia is a minute annual restricted to clay soils in western Colorado. Its abundance can swing dramatically with precipitation because many years pass primarily as seed in the soil rather than visible plants.
Energy development, roads, livestock concentration, weeds, and soil disturbance can affect both plants and seed bank. Never interpret empty-looking clay as unoccupied, and avoid sharing exact population coordinates.
- Status
- Federally threatened Colorado endemic
- Best clue
- Tiny low annual with cream tubular flowers and noticeably hairy leaves
- Colorado habitat
- Cracking clay badlands near De Beque and the Roan Plateau
Quick guide
- Best view
- Macro photograph from a legal badland edge
- Avoid
- Footprints on cracking clay and tiny annual plants
A close field reading of DeBeque Phacelia
- Get low without stepping in
- This annual can be only a few centimeters tall and disappear against pale clay.
- Record the leaves
- Hairy leaves and stems support the identification alongside small cream tubular flowers.
- Use the substrate
- Cracking clay badlands near De Beque and the Roan Plateau narrow the possibilities.
- Preserve the seed bank
- Do not cross occupied soil, pull plants, or drive onto apparently bare clay.
Good to know
The strongest DeBeque Phacelia record preserves the distinction between “Tiny low annual with cream tubular flowers and noticeably hairy leaves” and “Cracking clay badlands near De Beque and the Roan Plateau” while also showing the surrounding habitat.
Notice these
- Tiny low annual with cream tubular flowers and noticeably hairy leaves
- Cracking clay badlands near De Beque and the Roan Plateau
- Federally threatened Colorado endemic