Botanical research in the state of Colorado has identified many plant species considered to be rare or uncommon in the state by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program, who maintains a tracking list and serves as the central data repository for Colorado’s rare flora. Many of these species are also considered species of conservation concern by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Colorado Department of Natural Resources (CNHP 2022).

 

The Colorado Rare Plant Guide was originally produced through the efforts of the Colorado Rare Plant Technical Committee, a committee representing government and private interests and concerned with protecting Colorado's flora. Continuing support for updates to the guide has been provided by numerous partners. The Committee anticipated that a guide to Colorado's rarest plants would facilitate the collection of botanical data, be indispensable to the establishment of conservation priorities, and enable informed land management decisions.

 

To provide input: Use the "Research Login" link in the menu, or for corrections to the text, additional photographs, location information, etc. please contact Susan Panjabi at: susan.panjabi@colostate.edu.

 

Some of the species profile pages are in progress and will be refreshed in 2024.

 

To further support this effort contribute via the "Donate Now" button to the right, and mention the Rare Plant Guide in the comments field.

 

This resource should be cited as:
Colorado Natural Heritage Program. 2023. Colorado Rare Plant Guide. https://cnhp.colostate.edu/rareplant. Accessed on YYYYMMDD.