To access species profiles, from the Home Page, please see the "Rare Plant List". This searchable table presents all vascular species tracked by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program because they are of conservation concern in Colorado. Species with Colorado Rare Plant Guide profiles provide a green link to the profile. Species without a Colorado profile have a blue link to the global profile on NatureServe Explorer with summary information for that taxon. Species lists can also be customized by various filters.
Species Profiles:
- Ranks and Status:
The ranks and statuses for plant species are defined on the Definitions page. - General Descriptions and Technical Botanical Artwork:
The artwork and general descriptions are intended to help users identify plants in the field. For many species a complementary text will be necessary. Please see the references listed and resources provided under the Information tab for many excellent supplementary texts and websites.
- Nomenclature:
Scientific nomenclature follows Ackerfield (2022). Where these names do not overlap with the PLANTS database (USDA NRCS 2022) or other commonly used names, the synonyms are also provided. An exhaustive list of common names is not provided; for these we have tried to select the most commonly used name.
- Look Alikes:
This section will help users distinguish the rare species from other species with which they are likely to be confused when the plants are in flower or fruit. "Look alikes" in vegetative stages only are not listed. "Look alike" species are also limited to those species which occupy a similar habitat and range in Colorado as the rare species.
- Flowering/Fruiting Period:
The range of months likely for flowering and fruiting periods is based on the data from all Colorado records for each species. The months listed may represent a time within which a shorter flowering or fruiting period occurs.
- Global and State Distribution
The total distribution of known historical and extant occurrences is provided. - Distribution Maps:
Distribution maps display the relative density of observations in each latilong, quarter latilong, or quarter-quarter latilong in Colorado. The maps are constructed by:- assigning each observation a grid size based on the area of its geometry — quarter-quarter if smallest, quarter if intermediate, and latilong if largest;
- calculating the total number of observations in each grid cell;
- counting the number of distinct total values and dividing them into up to 5 map classes — if there are fewer than 5 distinct values, fewer classes are used, and any remainders are sequentially added to the higher classes;
- color coding each grid cell with its corresponding map class.
- Habitat:
Using the available data from all Colorado records for each species, we summarize key habitat features such as associated plant community and geological substrate. Lists of associated plant species are included when available. For those species which have global distributions that extend beyond the Colorado state borders, habitat is described for Colorado locations only.
- Threats and Management Issues:
This section describes threats and management issues for Colorado populations only.
A complete list of profile field definitions can be found here
Research :
This feature allows users to learn about specific research needs, and on-going research activities. A password protected account must be requested and approved to access this part of the Guide.
