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Plant Profile

Pagosa Skyrocket (Ipomopsis polyantha)

Global Rank: G1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: Federally Endangered
Family: Polemoniaceae
State: CO
Nature Serve ID: 902294
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection: 03/08/1989

Description:

Pagosa ipomopsis is an herbaceous perennial or possibly biennial that is a member of the Phlox Family. This species was first discovered and collected in 1899 by Charles Fuller Baker. It was originally described by Rydberg (1904) as Gilia polyantha and later moved into the genus Ipomopsis by Grant (1956). Until Pagosa ipomopsis was documented in threatened and endangered species survey work, the species was collected only nine times at three known occurrences (Anderson 2004). Pagosa ipomopsis flowers in axillary clusters along the stems and branches from late May to early August, producing white flowers with purple dots and short tubes with flaring lobes. Occasionally, these dots give the flower a pinkish or purplish color because of their density. The leaves are pinnatifid or deeply toothed with linear leaflets scattered up the stem. This species produces seeds once followed by the death of the entire plant (Anderson 1988 and 2004, Colorado Natural Heritage Program 2003, and Spackman 1997). Ipomopsis polyantha has been listed as a candidate species on the Federal Endangered Species List since 2005 and it is a former Category 2 species between 1985 and 1996 (USFWS 2007).

Where is Pagosa Skyrocket (Ipomopsis polyantha) located in the wild?

Habitat:

This species is restricted to fine-textured soil from the Mancos Formation. It appears on barren shale; or in ponderosa pine, pinyon-juniper or oak forested areas (Spackman 1997). Highest densities are found under ponderosa forests with montane grassland understory. The pH is nearly neutral to slightly alkaline (6.6-8.4). Elev. 6,800-7,300 ft. (Anderson 2004).

Distribution:

Pagosa ipomopsis is a narrow endemic of a 13-mile range on outcrops of Upper Cretaceous Mancos Shale in Archuleta County, Colorado. It is also restricted to some private land and highway rights-of-wa

States & Provinces:

Pagosa Skyrocket can be found in Colorado

Which CPC Partners conserve Pagosa Skyrocket (Ipomopsis polyantha)?

Denver Botanic Gardens

Not Sponsored

Assigned 06/09/17

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

09/16/2020

Phylogenetic relationships within Ipomopsis has been researched by Drs. J. Mark Porter, Leigh Johnson, and Dieter Wilken by using DNA sequences (of both nuclear and chloroplast DNA) (Anderson 2004). -

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Occurs in the Kaibab Plateau of Arizona south to central Arizona and irregularly to southwest Colorado and southern New Mexico (Intermountain Flora, Cronquist et al. 1984).

Akiko Okawado

01/01/2010

Threats include development of residential and commercial property, livestock grazing, invasion of exotic species, grand disturbance on highway rights-of-way, effects of small population size, recreation, wildflower gathering, global climate change, and p

Akiko Okawado

01/01/2010

Only three occurrences are known. The total population is estimated to be between 2,246 and 10,626+ plants as of 2003 (Anderson 2004).

Akiko Okawado

01/01/2010

- Two other taxa have been included within Ipomopsis polyantha as synonyms: Gilia polyantha var. brachysiphon and G. polyantha var. whitingii (Kearney and Peebles 1943). It is treated as such in Kartesz (1999) and in the PLANTS database (USDA National Resource Conservation Service 2003). Recent taxonomic research suggests that neither brachysiphon nor whitingii should be treated as infraspecific taxa under I. polyantha (Anderson 2004). Porter et al. (2003) included whitingii, but not brachysiphon, in their phylogenetic analysis of Ipomopsis. Also, whitingii does not seem to be closely related to I. polyantha. Consequentially, the most current data sources available indicate that I. polyantha is a distinct species (Anderson 2004). - Phylogenetic relationships within Ipomopsis has been researched by Drs. J. Mark Porter, Leigh Johnson, and Dieter Wilken by using DNA sequences (of both nuclear and chloroplast DNA) (Anderson 2004). - Characteristics of Ipomopsis polyantha most closely resemble stress-tolerant ruderal species in the Competitive/Stress-Tolerant/Ruderal model (Grime 2001).

Akiko Okawado

01/01/2010

There are no formal management plans being drafted specifically for the management, protection, or conservation of this species.

Akiko Okawado

01/01/2010

Understanding all aspects of this species' ecology and biology, including - Monitoring its habitat and population, - Species inventory work, - Demographic studies, - And studying seed longevity and dormancy.

Akiko Okawado

01/01/2010

- Translocation - Seed collection and storage