North Park Phacelia
Look first for small purple bell-shaped flowers on a low glandular plant, then confirm it in sparsely vegetated clay slopes in north park. Those two clues make North Park Phacelia much easier to identify responsibly in Colorado.
Artwork inspired by Frank Vavra
North Park phacelia is known only from a small part of Jackson County, Colorado. It grows on open, eroding clay soils where small purple flowers and sticky hairs are easy to miss among sparse vegetation.
Use distant close-focus photography from durable ground and keep precise locations private. Search open clay patches slowly during early summer; the whole plant is small and can blend with gravel. Short flowering season from late May into June.
- Status
- Federally endangered Colorado endemic
- Best clue
- Small purple bell-shaped flowers on a low glandular plant
- Colorado habitat
- Sparsely vegetated clay slopes in North Park
Quick guide
- Identify by
- Look for small purple bell-shaped flowers on a low glandular plant.
- Confirm with
- Confirm the sighting against sparsely vegetated clay slopes in North Park.
Observe North Park Phacelia on its terms
- Recognition
- Small purple bell-shaped flowers on a low glandular plant
- Colorado habitat
- Sparsely vegetated clay slopes in North Park
- Status
- North Park Phacelia: Federally endangered Colorado endemic
- Field practice
- For North Park Phacelia, apply this in the field: Search open clay patches slowly during early summer; the whole plant is small and can blend with gravel.
Good to know
A year with few visible flowers does not necessarily mean the population vanished; much of its future can remain unseen in the soil seed bank.
Notice these
- Small purple bell-shaped flowers on a low glandular plant
- Sparsely vegetated clay slopes in North Park
- Federally endangered Colorado endemic