Pagosa Skyrocket
Look first for tall spikes of white, pink-flecked flowers above narrow leaves, then confirm it in mancos shale barrens around pagosa springs. Those two clues make Pagosa Skyrocket much easier to identify responsibly in Colorado.
Artwork inspired by Eve Drewelowe
For Pagosa Skyrocket (Ipomopsis polyantha), record the whole form before isolating details. For Pagosa Skyrocket, use “Tall spikes of white, pink-flecked flowers above narrow leaves” for the first hypothesis and “Mancos shale barrens around Pagosa Springs” for confirmation.
Place the sighting of Pagosa Skyrocket in context by recording “Mancos shale barrens around Pagosa Springs” and “Flowers mainly from May through July”. For Pagosa Skyrocket, the detail “flower, fruit, seed, or other reproductive structure” makes the observation easier to check.
- Status
- Federally endangered Colorado endemic
- Best clue
- Tall spikes of white, pink-flecked flowers above narrow leaves
- Colorado habitat
- Mancos shale barrens around Pagosa Springs
Quick guide
- Search
- Open Mancos shale only from public routes
- Photograph
- Entire flowering spike without entering occupied soil
Field decisions for Pagosa Skyrocket
- Read the spike
- White tubular flowers marked with pink flecks line a tall, narrow stem above slender leaves.
- Check the substrate
- Known populations occupy pale Mancos shale near Pagosa Springs rather than ordinary meadow soil.
- Avoid assumptions
- Several penstemons share white flowers; location and full plant structure must agree.
- Guard the ground
- Remain on durable edges and never disclose a small colony or disturb crusted shale.
Good to know
For Pagosa Skyrocket, repeated quiet observation from one position generally reveals more diagnostic information than following, handling, or repositioning the subject.
Notice these
- Tall spikes of white, pink-flecked flowers above narrow leaves
- Mancos shale barrens around Pagosa Springs
- Federally endangered Colorado endemic