Christmas and New Years Office Closure
Colorado Parks and Wildlife offices will be closed on December 24, December 25, December 26 and January 1.
Parachute Beardtongue
The short mason bee (Osmia brevis) is the primary pollinator of this low-growing, white-to-lavender flower.
About This Species
Parachute beardtongue is a low-growing, rare penstemon which is endemic to Colorado (meaning it’s found here and nowhere else on Earth) and federally listed as threatened. This rare species has adapted to life on steep, unstable shale slopes. When their leaves and stems become buried by shifting shale, they elongate their stems downslope until they find a more stable spot to root, sending out new roots from their stems.
More Information:
Physical Characteristics
This herbaceous (without woody tissue) perennial (lives longer than two years) grows close to the ground but has no basal leaves, which grow at the base of the stem in other plants. Stem-leaves are succulent, hairless and blue-green. From mid-June to mid-July, it produces tubular white to lavender flowers. Trailing stems can be seen to root at nodes.
Range
Parachute beardtongue is limited to 44 square miles on the Roan Plateau, near the town of Parachute in Garfield County. This species' elevation range is 5,338 to 8,568 feet.
Habitat
Parachute beardtongue grows only on sparsely-vegetated, often steep, white shale talus slopes (mountain slopes covered in boulder-sized fragments of fallen broken rocks) of the Parachute Creek member of the Green River formation.
Other plant species found growing in the shale talus slopes that this plant calls home include bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata), green rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus), lanceleaf buckwheat (Eriogonum lonchophyllum), Colorado bedstraw (Galium coloradoense), saw-toothed goldenweed (Xanthisma grindeliodes), dragon milkvetch (Astragalus lutosus), oil shale fescue (Festuca dasyclada) and Roan Cliffs blazing star (Mentzelia rhizomata).
Threats to Species
Energy development and road maintenance may negatively impact the habitat of this species. Additionally, droughts have been linked with declines in this species, which is thought to be moderately vulnerable to climate change.