The following Questionnaire will assist you in determining what types of stewardship and recovery strategies relating to vegetation are the most applicable for your property.
Besides identifying invasive plants, it is also helpful to be able to identify threatened, endangered and rare plants on your property. Two plants protected under the Endangered Species Act potentially occur within the Lefthand, Big Thompson, Little Thompson and St. Vrain watersheds.
Colorado Butterfly Plant
This is an inconspicuous multi-branched plant with scattered white to pink flowers that grows 20 to 30 inches tall. It blooms from May to August and grows along active meandering stream channels below 6,400 feet in elevation.
Ute Ladies'-Tresses Orchid
This small orchid has numerous white flowers spiraling along the stem (similar to braided hair). Ute ladies’- tresses orchid is a small plant, usually less than 2 feet tall, that is hard to identify except when blooming (usually in August). It grows along streams and open meadow wetlands below about 7,000 feet in elevation.
Colorado Butterfly Plant
This is an inconspicuous multi-branched plant with scattered white to pink flowers that grows 20 to 30 inches tall. It blooms from May to August and grows along active meandering stream channels below 6,400 feet in elevation.
Ute Ladies'-Tresses Orchid
This small orchid has numerous white flowers spiraling along the stem (similar to braided hair). Ute ladies’- tresses orchid is a small plant, usually less than 2 feet tall, that is hard to identify except when blooming (usually in August). It grows along streams and open meadow wetlands below about 7,000 feet in elevation.
While threatened and endangered plants are federally listed, there are also a number of rare plants that could occur on your property. These plants are rare because they are restricted to certain areas or site conditions (such as soil types), or they are threatened by the loss of habitat. One example is the Bell’s twinpod (shown below), a small rosette plant with clusters of yellow flowers that bloom in the spring. This small plant is only found in a narrow band at the toe of the Front Range on loose shale slopes and has been observed along the Little Thompson River. Another uncommon species that may occur in wet meadows along streams below 6,000 feet in elevation is Showy prairie gentian.
If you would like more information on rare plants in the Northern Colorado area, look at the rare plant list (by County) on the Colorado Natural Heritage Program website.