Edited by Tom Schweich  

Polygonum polygaloides Meissner ssp. kelloggii (E. Greene) Hickman

Pike-San Isabel National Forest Road 189 is about 5 miles north of Leadville on the east side of US Highway 24. As the road climbs across the alluvial slope into an unnamed gulch, this road crosses sagebrush, aspen forest, willow riparian areas, and conifer forests. I have collected along this road three times, in 2022, 2023, and 2024. The road was bulldozed in 2023, which greatly improved it. As the roads are bulldozed, an outlet ditch is also bulldozed to allow water to exit the roadway. In 2024, one year after the road was bulldozed, I found four annuals growing in an outlet ditch. Two were common, Collomia linearis and Polygonum douglasii. However, two were new to me, Polygonum polygaloides ssp. kelloggii, and Gayophytum racemosum. It is also known from several locations in the upper Mono Lake Basin, and the Bodie Hills.

First known as Polygonum kelloggii Greene, published in his Flora Franciscana (Greene, 1891), our plant was subsequently reduced to a subspecies of Polygonum polygaloides in the course of updating the Jepson Manual of California (Hickman, J. C., 1984 and 1993).

Early Colorado collections of P. kelloggii were made in Middle Park by both C. C. Parry and G. Vasey. Parry's collection (NY3150865) was made in 1864 and was initially determined P. polygaloides Meisn. It was annotated to P. polygaloides ssp. kelloggii by Mihai Costea in 2003, but to P. kelloggii var. kelloggii by James L. Reveal in 2010 as part of the Intermountain Flora Project.

George Vasey's 1868 collection was also made in Middle Park. Initially determined Polygonum imbricatum Nutt., it was determined P. kelloggii Greene in 1937 by Louis Wheeler.

The nearest collection to mine was made by Kenneth K. Mackenzie near Breckenridge in August 1901 (NY3150867, WIS308391), some 33 km. to the northeast. Weber & Wittman (#19140, COLO613505) found our plant near the city of Aspen, about 40 km. west.

Our plant is also known from the Upper Mono Lake Basin, where there are collections from Slate Creek Valley and the Tioga Crest.

Distribution of collections of Polygonum polygaloides ssp. kelloggii.	Locations of collections of Polygonum polygaloides ssp. Kelloggii in Colorado.	Coll. No. 3334, Polygonum polygaloides var. kelloggii

Silene menziesii Hook

I came across this Catchfly in the open forest near Lily Lake, writing “Caryophyllaceae” in my field notes because of the notched petals. Back in the lab I was repeatedly confused over the position of the ovary. It took a long time to realize that the petals, stamens, and ovary are elevated above the calyx by an anthophore.

The first Colorado collection of Silene menziesii is that of Charles C. Parry (#137, 1861), “… from the head-waters of Clear Creek, and the alpine ridges lying east of 'Middle Park.'” There are four vouchers of this collection at BRU, GH, NY, and YU. Hall and Harbour also collected our plant, their no. 64, “ … from Pike’s Peak in the South to the headwaters of Clear Creek in the North … ” with two vouchers at BRU. The same sheet has an additional collection by Hall in 1862, and a third specimen given as Hall no. 51, made in 1871 in Oregon.

The previous collections in the vicinity of Lily Lake are 25 to 30 km. distant, along the Weston Pass Road, at Twin Lakes, and along Lime Creek in the Frying Pan River basin.

Silene menziesii in Colorado.	Coll. No. 3352, Silene menziesii.	Flower of Coll. No. 3352, Silene menziesii.	Flower of Coll. No. 3352, Silene menziesii.	Coll. No. 3352, Silene menziesii.

Gayophytum racemosum Torr. & A. Gray. Blackfoot Groundsmoke

In the outlet ditch with Polygonum polygaloides ssp. kelloggii along Forest Road 189, I also found this little annual. I did not write down its characters while keying it out (Shame on me!), but I remember skipping over G. ramosissimum because of the size and proportion of the pedicels and capsules, then looking at the branching of the stems.

C. C. Parry and Hall & Harbour made the earliest collections in Colorado, though we only know approximately where in the state that the collections were made. Generally, Colorado collections are in the mountains from the Front Range to the west. The closest collection to our location is DeAlton Saunders (s.n., 24 Jun 1893) at Tennessee Pass, about 7 km. to the north. This is the only other collection in Lake County, but I have to say that I am a little skeptical of Saunders' location of Tennessee Pass. Many of his collections state that Tennessee Pass is 7 miles west of Leadville, when it is actually north of Leadville. It is possible that Saunders got west mixed up with north. Alternatively, it is possible that Saunders got Hagerman Pass, which is about 7 miles west of Leadville, mixed up with Tennessee Pass. There is another collection by K. K. Mackenzie (#144, August 1901) near Breckenridge, about 35 km. to the northeast, which is also the nearest collection of Polygonum polygaloides ssp. kelloggii, above.

Cymopterus lemmonii (J.M.Coult. & Rose) Dorn

Alpine False Springparsley — Cymopterus lemmonii (J. M. Coult. & Rose) Dorn — is one of the more common springparsleys. Not found in Golden, and found sparingly in the foothills of Jefferson County, it is common in the Rocky Mountains, the San Juan Mountains, and other smaller identified ranges. Occurs very sparingly in northwest Colorado and not al all on the plains.

The author has collected it in Jefferson, Park, and Lake Counties.

Our plant has received a number of names, from Thaspium ? montanum A. Gray, given to a Fendler collection in 1847 near Santa Fe, then various names in Ligusticum, Pseudocymopterus, Peucedanum, Lomatium, until Cymopterus lemmonii (J. M. Coult. & Rose) Dorn (1977). For a time it carried two names from widely disparate locations, until Dorn put the names together.

Coll. No. 3313, Cymopterus lemmonii.

Ligusticum tenuifolium S. Watson

I found Coll. No. 3399 of Ligusticum tenuifolium along the North Fork of Lake Creek about 0.4 miles north of Brumley. It was uncommon in water-saturated soil in a willow thicket along former creek channels.

There are three other collections of this plant in Lake County, the closest being about 2 km. northwest near the top of Independence Pass.

The oldest Colorado collections as Hall & Harbour #316 made in the mountains of Colorado in 1862. A John Wolf collection (#721, 1873) is the next oldest collection.

Ligusticum tenuifolium was proposed by Watson (1879) who noted, “ … leaves much more finely divided even than in L. filicinum, and fruit very different ... ”

Mathias & Constance (1941) reduced L. tenuifolium to a variety of L. filicinum without comment or explanation. Plants of the World (2025) accepts that placement, whereas Catalog of Life (2025), Ackerfield (2022), and Welsh, et al. (1993) maintain L. tenuifolium at the rank of species.

Coll. No. 3329, Ligusticum filicinum var. tenuifolium.

Oxypolis fendleri (A. Gray) Heller

I have found Oxypolis fendleri (A. Gray) Heller “Fendler's Cowbane” along the North Fork of Lake Creek at Brumley and along the creek near Forest Road 189. It is very likely also along West Tennessee Creek and I am surprised that I have not yet found it there.

Oxypolis fendleri is mostly a Colorado species, occurring in the Rocky Mountains and the San Juan Mountains. It is also found in the Medicine Bow Mountains of southern Wyoming, and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico, with a few disjunct populations in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

Our plant was first collected by Agustus Fendler (no. 272, 1847) along Santa Fe Creek and published by A. Gray (1849) as Archemora fendleri A. Gray. A. A. Heller (1897) collected around Santa Fe for 9 weeks, making some 240 collections, including our plant. Upon publishing his findings, Heller placed our plant in Oxypolis Raf.

Our first collection in the state was C. C. Parry (#155) in 1861, followed by C. C. Parry, and Hall & Harbour (#220) in 1862. All of those collections give very general locations.

There are no collections of Fendler's Cowbane in Jefferson County.

Coll. No. 2713, Oxypolis fendleri	Distribution of Oxypolis fendleri collections in Colorado.

Bouteloua simplex Lag.

I found this little annual grama grass along Forest Road 211 in southern Jefferson County, thinking at first it looked like Vulpia octoflora. However, dried and out of the press, it was clear the inflorescence looked more like a grama grass. The earliest collection of B. simplex in Colorado was made by George Vasey in 1884. The location is unknown. Then it was collected by Tracy & Evans (#492, 1887) in Colorado City, now called Colorado Springs. I found it in southern Jefferson County, along Forest Road 211.

The name is South American in origin, as it was described by Lagasca (1805) from a collection made in Peru.

Coll. No. 3380, Bouteloua simplex.

Literature Cited

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