Aliciella penstemonoides facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Aliciella penstemonoides |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Aliciella
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| Species: |
penstemonoides
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The Aliciella penstemonoides is a special kind of flowering plant. It's also known by its common names, Black Canyon gilia and beardtongue gilia. This plant is part of the phlox family. It's a unique plant because it only grows in one place: the state of Colorado in the United States. When a plant or animal only lives in one specific area, we call it endemic.
Contents
What Does This Plant Look Like?
This plant is a perennial herb, which means it lives for more than two years. Its stems can grow up to 15 centimeters (about 6 inches) tall.
Leaves and Flowers
- Around the bottom of the plant, you'll find a group of leaves called a rosette. These leaves are long and narrow, sometimes shaped like a spear, and can be up to 5 centimeters (about 2 inches) long. Some of them might even have small lobes or rounded sections.
- Higher up on the stem, the leaves are smaller and even narrower.
- The plant produces a branching cluster of flowers, called an inflorescence.
- The flowers themselves are quite pretty, usually purple, blue, or sometimes almost white. Each flower is about a centimeter (less than half an inch) long.
Where Does the Black Canyon Gilia Live?
This plant is found in five different counties in Colorado. Its main home is in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and along the Gunnison River.
How Many Are There?
- Scientists have found about 28 different groups, or "occurrences," of this plant.
- Many of these groups (14 of them) are located on land managed by the National Park Service.
- Eight groups are on land managed by the United States Forest Service.
- Five groups are on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
- Only one group of these plants is found on land that is privately owned.
What Kind of Home Does It Like?
The Black Canyon gilia loves to grow on steep, sometimes even straight-up, cliff sides in river canyons. It's very good at finding tiny cracks in the rocks to anchor itself.
High Up in the Mountains
- You can find this plant growing at very high elevations, sometimes up to 10,000 feet (over 3,000 meters) above sea level!
- Other plants that share these rocky canyon walls include Arabis crandallii, Arenaria fendleri, Artemisia frigida, Artemisia ludoviciana, Heterotheca horrida, Heterotheca villosa, Holodiscus dumosus, Oryzopsis micrantha, Ribes cereum, and Selaginella densa.
- In some areas, you might also spot ferns, mosses, and lichens growing alongside the gilia.
Is This Plant in Danger?
Scientists are still learning about what might threaten this plant. Luckily, many groups of these plants are safe from most human activities because they grow on cliffs that are very hard to reach.
Human Activities and the Plant
- Some groups of the plant are located near places where people enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, fishing, and rock climbing.
- Sadly, two groups of these plants were lost when the Blue Mesa Reservoir was created. This means those specific groups of plants disappeared from their original locations.
