■ , dedicated to the appreciation and conservation of the Colorado native flora” Volume 15, Number 4 July/August 1991 Tripping in the San Luis Basin Peter Root Having complained for some time about the shortage of field trip reports in AqiiUegia, when I finally went on one of our trips, I felt compelled to write a report about it. Our trip to the San Luis Basin on July 13th began in Alamosa and took us to sites in the San Luis Val- ley and the eastern San Juan Mountains. Hobey Dixon of Adams State College was our leader. We stopped first at a wetland site on the Monte Vista Wildlife Refuge where we saw Cleome multi- caulis, one of Colorado’s rare plants which has been extirpated from much of its range where marshes have been drained. It is much smaller than the huge garden Cleome familiar to most of us. Here we also saw white- faced ibises, avocets, and gallinules (now called ‘moor hens’ by the birding estab- lishment). The hungry biting flies of this area reminded me of the New Jersey salt marshes. On the way to our next stop we went up the Alamosa Canyon past cliffs of vol- canic rock, where we learned that com- pressed volcanic ash can look just like sandstone! We stopped near Cat Creek and saw the raire, Astragalus ripleyi which is endemic to this area. Our next stop was near Lookout Moun- tain. On the way we passed from foothills pinon-juniper into spruce and fir forest. For most people this was a lunch stop, but Hobey had said there were moonworts there, so I went off looking for them. I found quite a few and was still making discoveries when it was time to leave. I look forward to return- ing to this excellent moonwort locality! The next scheduled stop was to be at El- wood Pass, but on the way we stopped at a seeping roadside area where we saw a wide assortment of wildflowers. El- wood Pass had both wet subalpine meadows and dry rock outcrops. Most people spent quite a bit of time looking at a short purple penstemon {Penstemon hallii) on the rocks. Many other plants provided opportunities for photographing and just looking. From Elwood Pass we drove by the old mining town of Summitville, where a company from Nevada is busily tearing down a whole mountain and leaching the rock with cyanide in an immense pit to extract gold and silver. This provides some of the “economic development” that politicians extol, but there appears to be only a token effort at revegetation, and the creek draining the area is bor- dered by a strip of sterile ground. Near Grayback Mountain we stopped to see plants of the alpine tundra. We did see quite a few species, but fewer than we might have if the area had not been recently grazed by sheep. There were still snowbanks near the road and the snow buttercup {Ranunculus adoneus) grew in the wet soil near them. Our final stop of the day was at Elephant rocks north of Del Norte. Here the rocks of compressed volcanic ash look just like granite! In the right light they resemble a herd of elephants. This is the habitat of Neopanya lithophila, a rare — continued on page 11 Special Issue . . . Summit Lake Alpine Flora 3 High Creek Fen 11 Catalog of Plants 11 Rare Plant Conf. 11 Ethics of Collecting 11 Calendar Back cover Page 2 Aquilegia Volume 15 Denver Chapter Meetings Sept. 25th: Election of officers; meeting schedule for season Come greet old friends and help us get the meeting year started! A speaker or slide show is planned. Wednesday of the month, but we will dis- cuss dates for November and December 1991 to avoid conflicts with holidays. Contact Carol Dawson, 722-6758, for meeting information. Field Trip Canceled The trip to the Sterling Sand Hills scheduled for September 14th has been canceled. Oct. 23rd: Bring slides of your favorite plants or plant places from summer’s ex- plorations. We look forward to seeing you soon! Aquilegia is printed on All meetings this year will be held at the Denver Botanic Gardens, Classroom A, at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise announced. Meetings are generally held on the last 100% Recycled Paper Schedule of Membership Fees Aquilegia is published six times per year by the Colorado Native Plant Society. This newsletter is available to members of the Society and others with an interest in native plants. Contact the Society for subscription information. Life Supporting Organization Family or Dual Individual Student or Senior $250.00 $ 50.00 $ 25.00 $12.00 $8.00 $4.00 Officers President Gayle Weinstein Vice-President Jim Borland Secretary Rob Udall Treasurer Myma P. Steinkamp 333-3024 329-9198 482-9826 226-3371 Denver Membership Renewals/Information Articles from Aquilegia may be used by other native plant societies if fully cited to author and attributed to Aquile^a, Please direct all membership applications, renewals and address changes to the Member- ship chairperson, in care of the Society’s mailing address. Please direct all other inquiries regard- ing the Society to the Secretary in care of the Society’s mailing address. Board of Directors Betsy Neely (92) Boulder Jan Wingate (92) Rich Rhodes (91) Peter Henson (92) Tina Jones (91) Tamara Naumann (91) Sally White (92) Velma Richards (92) 443-8094 989-2137 Pueblo 719/545-4352 Denver 671-8858 Denver 759-9701 Boulder 440-8933 Morrison 697-5439 Englewood 794-5432 Newsletter Contributions The Colorado Native Plant Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the appreciation and conservation of the Colorado native flora. Membership is open to all with an interest in our na- tive plants, and is composed of plant en- thusiasts, both professional and non- professional. Please direct all contributions to the newsletter to; Peter Root 4915 West 31st Avenue Denver, CO 80212 Please join us in helping to encourage interest in enjoying and protecting the variety of native plants in Colorado. The Society sponsors field trips, workshops and other activities through local chap- ters and statewide. Contact the Society or a chapter representative or commit- tee chair for more information. Deadlines for newsletter materials are Februaiy 15, April 15, June 15, August 15, October 15 and December 15. Short items such as unusual information about a plant, a little known botanical term, etc. are espe- cially welcome. Camera-ready line art or other il- lustrations are also solicited. Please include author’s name and address, al- though items will be printed anonymously if re- quested. Articles may be submitted on disks (IBM-compatible, 5.25-in. DS/DD) if desired; please indicate word processing software and ver- sion used. Robert Udall (91) Ft Collins 482-9826 Gayle Weinstein (91) Denver 333-3024 Chapter Presidents Boulder Alison Peck 443-0284 Denver Metro Carol Dawson 722-6758 Ft. Collins Jennifer Crane 493-2142 Yamparika Reed Kelley 8784666 San Juan Peggy Lyon 626-5526 Committees Conservation Elizabeth Otto 567-2384 Editorial Sally White 697-5439 Education Gary Finstad 791-3790 Field Trips Jeff Dawson 722-6758 Florissant Mary Edwards 233-8133 Hort/Rehab Dorothy Udall 482-9826 Membership Myma Steinkamp 226-3371 Publicity Julie Dulapa 752-2738 Workshops Bill Jennings 666-8348 Number 4 Aquilegia Pages The Alpine Flora of Summit Lake, Mount Evans, Colorado William A. Weber, University of Colorado Museum Campus Box 350, Boulder, CO 80309 Introduction Summit Lake, Mount Evans, Colorado, a high cirque lake in the Colorado Front Range just west of Denver, supports a unique assemblage of alpine plants in- cluding a number of rare disjuncts. The area was designated the first Natural History Landmark in Colorado 26 years ago. This paper gives the history of its proposal and designation, a description of the habitats found there, and a catalog of the vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens thus far known to occur. History of Landmark Designation The National Registry of Natural History Landmarks is a program initiated in 1960 by then Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall. The guidelines for the program were given as follows (Dale 1964). “Sites eligible for registry must have a high degree of scientific or educa- tional value. They must contain geologic or ecological values, or both, of exceptional quality and sig- nificance in illustrating the natural history of the United States. “Sites representing rare or vanishing geological features or phenomena, or types of ecosystems, will general- ly qualify. Sites may also qualify by being excellent examples of natural history features of common occur- rence. But rare or common, they must be natural or reasonably suc- cessful recreations of natural condi- tions. “Few sites exist in America which are entirely free from man-caused influences. However, successful re- establishment of natural environ- ments is often possible. Such sites may be considered for designation if owners are sympathetic with, and press toward, that objective. “The site should be large enough to satisfy a minimum of ecological re- quirements and must be reasonably invulnerable to deterioration, dilu- tion, or destruction. It is desirable that the site be reasonably easy of ac- cess and available for appropriate uses by scientists, conservationists, and educators. “Sympathetic and responsible ownership is, of course, requisite. In requesting registration of sites, there must be unanimity of agreement on the part of owners to comply with a few basic conservation practices relating to management and protec- tion. Owners agree also to periodic consultation and visits by National Park Service representatives as a basis for continuing landmark status. “Sites which are believed to meet these criteria may be suggested to the Director of the National Park Service for consideration as Natural History Landmarks.” Summit Lake, 4,000 meters altitude, on Mount Evans west of Denver, was the first Colorado site designated by the Na- tional Registry. Designation of the first seven Natural History Landmarks was announced on March 17, 1964. I nominated Summit Lake for designation in a letter to the Regional Director, Mid- west Region, National Park Service in Omaha, Nebraska, on 9 January 1965. In seeking this designation, I enumerated the following qualifications of the site. “1. Physical features: Summit Lake is a unique alpine lake for the follow- ing reasons. It is the largest lake of its altitude (12,800 feet) in the region and lies in a protected northeast niche of the arete of Mount Evans. Unlike most alpine cirque lakes, it has an extensive inlet area of gentle slopes, with meandering and anas- tomosing streamlets, gravel bars, sedge hummocks, frost-push ponds, boulderfields, and a large persistent snowbank at the upper end, “2. Ecological features: Summit Lake is unique because here are concentrated a number of extremely rare Arctic-alpine plants occurring here at their only station outside the Arctic Circle. A few of these are known in the United States (outside Alaska) only in areas of a few square feet in the lake’s inlet area. Other al- pine wildlife are here in goodly num- bers and are easily seen; ptarmigan, mountain sheep, elk, and rosy finches. Although the invertebrate fauna has not been studied much, there are similar rarities in the but- terflies and craneflies. “3. Present and potential uses: Sum- mit Lake essentially is a scenic area and is served by a paved highway which crosses the outlet en route to the mountain summit. A picnic shel- ter has existed for some years near the road, and a trail goes from this point to the overlook of the Chicago Basin to the west. With careful development, the picnic area could be maintained without destruction of the natural values that chiefly exist in the inlet area and in the frost-push ponds across the outlet from the pic- nic area. With proper interpretive literature, the area could serve at a distance by classes from the Denver Metropolitan area. Trampling of the lake margin would have to be prohibited, since this is very destruc- tive at high altitudes. In small num- bers, students of the flora and fauna would be able to make a vicarious ex- cursion to the Arctic at a fraction of the cost and time of a real one. Col- lection should be discouraged or strictly limited to a degree that would not deplete the existing flora. Grazing and other sorts of ex- perimental use should be strictly for- Page 4 AquHegia Volume 15 bidden. The area is a relict of the Pleistocene and represents one of the only remaining spots in the Southern Rocky Mountains where the Pleistocene alpine flora is preserved at its best. “4. Vulnerability to destruction or deterioration: Before the sig- nificance of the lake was made clear to the Denver Parks Department, it was possible for cars to drive off the road onto the lake shore. This made tracks in the wetland, cut the turf, and resulted in severe deterioration [in the outlet area], and a [vegeta- tion-depleted] gravelly flat resulted. Fortunately, the talus that reaches the lake shore makes it impossible for vehicles to reach the far end of the lake from either side. At my sug- gestion, the Parks Board has placed large boulders along the road, and this has kept vehicular traffic out. The land immediately surrounding the picnic shelter and down to the shore has not been provided with fireplaces and rubbish bins. Much of this shoreline has been degraded by casual fires and moving of boulders to make temporary fireplaces. A lit- tle care to facilities will help this situation. It should be pointed out that this particular portion of the area is not of much scientific impor- tance but should be saved for its aes- thetic values. “The lake has been stocked routine- ly by the Colorado Game and Fish Department [now Division of Wildlife], despite the fact that the lake is of no productivity and cannot support fish for any length of time. Furthermore, late summer fishing is somewhat dangerous because of the incidence of sudden snowstorms which may strand motorists or put human life in danger generally. Ac- cess to Summit Lake is shut off at Echo Lake whenever weather condi- tions become threatening, and the road is not kept open after the first heavy snow of the winter. “The Parks Board has assured me that they will cooperate in helping to protect the area from encroachment of vehicular traffic and from undue use outside of established picnic areas. They also suggest that the Game and Fish Department may be prevailed upon with little difficulty to cease stocking of Summit Lake. “5. Other considerations; Summit Lake is an integral part of a series of scenic and otherwise interesting mountain phenomena reached by the Mount Evans highway. At tim- berline on Mount Goliath, part way up, there is an ancient stand of gnarled bristlecone pines that is protected from wood-gatherers by prominent signs and, presumably, patrols [unfortunately, by 1989 every scrap of loose wood had been removed!]. Higher up on Mount Goliath, a spur of Mount Evans, is an area of tundra which has been set aside by the Denver Botanical Gar- den as a nature trail with marked sta- tions. The summit of Mount Evans, at 14,000 feet, commands a view reaching to Pike’s Peak, Mountain of the Holy Cross, Long’s Peak, and far out on the plains. An excellent view of Summit Lake is available from near the summit. A restaurant is operated at the summit [since destroyed by fire; no facilities now exist there]. Mount Evans is an ex- ample of what can be done in the public interest without overem- phasizing the commercial. Pike’s Peak, on the other hand, is an object lesson in what can happen when commercialism is unbridled. The addition of Summit Lake to the natural interest points of the moun- tain would be an important step in the recognition of the natural scene as an educational adjunct to a metropolitan area.” Formal designation of Summit Lake as a Natural History Landmark was made on August 30, 1965. Dedication of the site 77, e ciraue basin ofMt. Evans looms over Summit Lake, whose shores provia^Jy a variety of habitats for disjunct Arctic plant species rarely found m Colorado. TJi. Qniht 'If/hitp. Number 4 Aquilegia Page 5 coincided with a field trip of the VII Con- gress of the International Association for Quaternary Research, held in Boulder i August 30-September 5, 1965 (Weber 1965). The party attending the ceremony included James Calder, Agriculture Canada; Askell and Doris Love, Icelan- dic cytotaxonomists; Mai-Britt Florin, diatomist, Univ. of Uppsala; Ann Con- nolly, Univ. of Leicester; Roland Be- schel, pioneer lichenometrist, Canada; Misao Tatewaki, plant geographer, Univ. of Hokkaido; and representatives of the City of Denver Parks Dept, and the National Park Service. A bronze dedication plaque had been ' riveted to a granite boulder, but a few days after installation it was stolen. A new one, fortunately, was in place for the actual dedication. The inscription read: “Summit Lake / has been designated / a Registered / Natural Landmark / under the provisions of the / Historic Sites Act of 1935 / This site possesses exceptional value / in illustrating the natural / history of the United States / U. S. Department of the Interior / National Park Service.” ^The official papers dealing with the designation of Summit Lake are housed with the City of Denver Parks Depart- ment, which administers the site. Specific Aspects OT the Site Summit Lake lies in a granite cirque basin facing northeast. Unlike most al- pine tarns of the Southern Rocky Mts., the lake's upper margin does not direct- ly abut on a rock wall, but is fed by a gent- ly sloping or level inlet fed by late-lying snowbanks above. A smaller cirque basin, essentially dry, lies to the south be- tween Summit Lake and the summit of the mountain. The aspect presented by the cirque wall and the summit area en- sures that the lake receives relatively lit- tle direct sunlight and remains in shadow for much of the day. This protection from sun (and wind) results in slow and gradual snow melt and a moister sub- strate throughout the year. The steeper part of the inlet contains several swift-flowing rills that end in a level Carex scopulomm stand on ice- push hummocks, between which are numerous anastomosing streamlets and pondlets. The rills carry water throughout the growing season; their most notable feature is the abundant patches of the rare aquatic moss, Hydrogrimmia mollis. The hummocks have vertical sides with sparse or medium cover of mosses, hepatics, and small vascular plants, the most unusual of which is Spatularia (Saxifraga) foliolosa, a disjunct from the Arctic. Where the streamlets are wide and shal- low enough to contain small gravel bars in the center, small colonies of Phippsia algida (Weber 1952), another Arctic dis- junct, occur. Along bends in the stream- lets, exposed gravels covered with mosses support a third Arctic disjunct, Koenigia islandica. The small ponds support dense floating stands of mosses, noi^hXy Samientypnum sarmentosumy Wamstorfia exannulata, and Calliergon stramineum. Scattered boulders fallen from the surrounding talus support various lichens and bryophytes, among which the rare Andreaea heinemannii has been found. In depressions between the rocks, the lichens Stereocaulon rivulonim and Cladonia tiirgida occur, along with com- mon mosses of saturated substrates. The south side of the lake is bounded by a steep slope at the base of which are massive granite boulders forming a sta- bilized talus extending beyond the water's edge. These are essentially bar- ren. Above the blocky talus are areas of talus that have been filled in by soil, or with the rocks still partially exposed and often present- ing small over- hangs. This is a very rich area of mosaics of ground, some moist and others quite dry. Among the most inter- esting moss species are the widely world- Saxifraga cernua disjunct Oreas martiana (Weber 1960a), Mnium spinosum, and Entodon concinnus. The vascular flora is also rich, including Chrysosplenium tetrandrum, Ranunculus pygmaeus, Saxifraga cernua, S. hyperborea, and S. rivularis. The north side of the lake is usually quite dry, supporting the usual dry tundra Tri- folium and Artemisia species, but in areas where late snowbeds persist there are stands of Carex crandallii and Ranun- culus adoneus. The topography is fairly gentle and the site comparatively well-in- solated. Trifolium parryi The outlet of the lake is bisected by the motor road. The portion of the outlet ad- jacent to the lake shore was once heavily disturbed from old access ruts of fisher- men and fish-planting vehicles. However, there are several sites that have recovered sufficiently to support a number of interesting plants, such as Kobresia myosuroides, K. sibirica, and K. simpliciuscula and fine stands of Hir- culus (Saxifraga) prorepens. The area across the motor road is not particularly noted for rarities, but is a highly saturated tundra with pools and hum- mocks and many typical wet-tundra species, noidhXy Psychrophila leptosepala and Rhodiola integrifolia. The Botanical Discovery of Summit Lake Following the rediscovery of Phippsia al- gida at Summit Lake, a steady stream of field botanists from all over the world came to visit the lake, and each one seems to have brought field experience that resulted in new discoveries. Some of Page 6 Aquilegia Volume 15 the anecdotal accounts of these dis- coveries are worth relating. My first acquaintance with Summit Lake came when I had been searching for Phippsia, a minute Arctic grass, for many years without success. Had I done my homework the search might have ended much sooner, but I was young and had not mastered the proper steps in scien- tific method. Phippsia algida was reported for North America by A. S. Hitchcock in his monumental Manual of the Grasses of the United States (1935), as having been found on the “summit of Gray’s Peak.” Never having visited the Arctic, I knew nothing about the ecology of the plant, and so for several years I made it a point to search on the summits of this and other mountains, without suc- cess. Finally, in 1950, 1 was able to locate and borrow the specimen, collected by Harry N. Patterson, from the Field Museum of Natural History. From the label on the specimen it was clear why my search had not succeeded. Patterson was a printer living in Oquawka, Illinois, and printed his own collection labels and those of many other botanists of the time. His printed label was headed: “Colorado Flora: Mts. about the headwaters of Clear Creek, alt. 11-14,000 feet. High mountains, Gray’s Peak and vicinity, Sept. 2, 1885.” This, then, was the infor- mation used by Hitchcock. However, the name was printed by hand, along with the following: “wet places, alt. 1,000 ft. above (S of) Upper Chicago Lake.” Primula angustifolia Anyone unfamiliar with the area might be excused for citing the specimen as having come from Gray’s Peak, but the Upper Chicago Lake is on Mount Evans, in the cirque basin to the west of Summit Lake, and about a thousand feet below. Oxyria digyna The search would appear to have been at an end then and there, but I was still in ignorance of the ecology, so one day Dr. Paul Maslin, herpetologist of the Univer- sity Museum, and I skirted the upper part of the Chicago Basin cirque, risking our lives in very unstable screes, without any luck. We sat down at the picnic shel- ter of Summit Lake and ate lunch and, before calling it a day, decided to take a turn around the lake. Of course, we found the plant in the cold, wet gravel bars of the inlet area! But unprepared- ness gremlins struck again. I had forgot- ten my hand lens! The herbarium at that time did not contain any specimens of Phippsia, and all we had to go on was a line drawing and description. The criti- cal characters were in the very small spikelets. In my desperation I attempted to make a lens by inserting a drop of water in a loop of grass stem; I believe that it worked, because I was convinced that the characters were correct. For a number of years, this was the only locality known in Colorado for Phippsia (Weber 1952), but the ecological field work done by Vera Komar kova (1979) has revealed several additional localities in the Front Range, the Mosquito Range, and in the Ten Mile Range, where she discovered a stand occupying one to two acres! On July 23, 1953, George Neville Jones, who was teaching my field course that summer, accompanied me to Summit Lake to see Phippsia. As we walked along the inlet area I subconsciously noticed what appeared to me to be small, reddish seedlings. I thought no more about them, because at about that time we happened to discover Saxifraga foliolosa, a small, inconspicuous plant in which the few flowers are replaced by small bulblets, growing on the vertical walls of the rivulets. This, of course, was new to Colorado (although I later found that E. L. Greene had collected it on a nearby saddle years before, calling it Saxifraga vreelandii). The little red “seedlings” were forgotten. A week later I brought the great Nor- wegian ecologist and lichenologist, Eilif Dahl, to the lake. On the way up in the car, he asked me: “Well, Bill, what shall we find today?” Again, having no real knowledge of the plant, I simply pulled out of my head the name of an Arctic species, and said, “How about Koenigia islandicaT’ We both laughed and we continued on our way. Not five minutes after getting out of the car, Eilif was on his hands and knees. “Bill, what did you Allium geyeri Number 4 Aquilegia Page 7 Rhodiola integrifolia On one of his visits to Colorado in 1960, Erling Porsild, preeminent floristic botanist of the Canadian Arctic, on being shown Koenigia at Summit Lake, remarked that he remembered seeing a collection of the species in the herbarium in Copenhagem, having been collected at a place called “Severn Lakes” and that I should look for it next time I visited there. I did find the specimen, collected, not at any “Severn Lake,” but at Seven Lakes, 3,300 meters, in the Pikes Peak watershed, by Ove Paulsen, the Danish plant geographer, on the first Interna- tional Phytogeographic Excursion in America, on August 19, 1913! This remarkable two-month excursion, which had much to do with the future blossom- ing of American plant ecology, was led by F. E. Clements, and brought to the Rocky Mountains many noted taxonomists and ecologists, among them Adolf Engler, Carl Schroter, E. Riibel, and A. C. Tansley (Tansley 1914). It is curious that Ove Paulsen never reported Koenigia, which would have been a new record for the United States, although he was interested enough in it to collect a full liter jar full of pickled material, which I was brought upon my inquiry about a note accompanying the her- barium specimen! The third and last anecdote concerns a bryological colleague, the late Kjeld Hol- men, of the University of Copenhagen. He came to visit me from north Green- land via Lake Peters, Alaska. Dr. Erling Porsild was with me at the time, and the three of us went to Summit Lake. Again, hardly had he gotten out of the car, he was on his hands and knees, exclaiming, “I cannot believe it! Here is Oreas mar- tiana. I have been in Peary Land, North Greenland, where I discovered it for the first time, and yesterday at Lake Peters, where I discovered it new for Alaska, and now here in Colorado!” This was an in- stance in which only his intimate ac- quaintance with this small moss enabled him to spot it immediately, because it does have a superficial resemblance to some other alpine turf-forming mosses. But, with experience, its rich golden color and extremely dense turfs make it fairly easily recognized (Weber 1960a). Again, the field research of Vera Komarkova demonstrated that it is not a rare species at the proper ecological sites in the Front Range of Colorado. Almost every visit to Summit Lake has yielded new and exciting plant dis- coveries, often made possible by the ex- perience and specialty of the botanists who have come to see the flora. The list of prominent arctic and alpine botanists who have visited and thrilled to the flora of Summit Lake has made the site one of the most popular places in America for alpine rarities, and includes Ove Almborn, lichenologist, Sweden; Lewis E. Anderson, bryologist, Duke Univer- sity; D. D. Awasthi, lichenologist, India; Eilif Dahl, ecologist,, lichenologist, Nor- way; Kjeld Holmen, bryologist, Den- All illustrations of alpine plants in this issue are from Alpine Wildflowers of Mt Goliath, by Jan Wingate, used by permis- sion. This pamphlet is available at the Den- ver Botanic Gardens gift shop. mark; Eric Hulten, plant geographer, Sweden; George Neville Jones, vascular plants, Univ. of Illinois; Per Magnus Jorgensen, lichenologist, Sweden; Kul- dip Khanna, bryologist, India; Timo Koponen, bryologist, Finland; Askell and Doris Love, cytotaxonomists, Iceland; A. Erling Porsild, plant geog- rapher, Canada; and Antero Vaarama, bryologist, Finland. References Cited Dale, C. Kenny. 1964. The National Registry of Natural History Landmarks. Trends in Parks and Recreation 1(1), July, unpaginated. Park Practice. Komarkova, Vera. 1979. Alpine vegeta- tion of the Indian Peaks Area, Front Range, Colorado Rocky Mountains. Flora et Vegetatio Mundi 7:1-591. 77 figs., 35 tables. Tansley, A. G. 1914. International Phytogeographical Excursion (I.P.E.) in America, 1913. New Phytologist 12:322- 336; 13:30-41 [concerning the Colorado portion], 83-92, 268-275, 325-333. Weber, William A. 1952. Phippsia algida in the United States. Rhodora 54:141- 145. . 1960a. A second American record for Oreas rnartiana, from Colorado. Bryologist 63:241-244. . 1963. Additions to the bryophyte flora of Colorado. Bryologist 66:192-200. . 1965. Mount Evans, concentra- tion point for Pleistocene relict plants. Guidebook for one-day field conferen- ces, Boulder Area, Colorado, pp. 10-12. International Association for Quater- nary Research, Vllth Congress. , & Beatrice Willard. 1969. Daily log and guide, XI International Botani- cal Congress Field Trip Number 1: Grand Canyon. Wittmann, R. C., & W. A. Weber. 1991. Catalog of the Colorado Flora: A Biodiversity Baseline, University Press of Colorado. Page 8 Aquilegia Volume 15 Catalog of Plants of Summit Lake Dr. Wiliiam A. Weber Although we now have a very good un- derstanding of the flora of Summit Lake (Weber & Willard 1969), no comprehen- sive catalog has been published to this date. It is time that this be made avail- able, for full documentation in the event of future threats to the integrity of the site, and for better interpretation for fu- ture visitors and researchers. The follow- ing is a list of the bryophytes, lichens and vascular plants that have been collected at Summit Lake. Each item is repre- sented by specimens on file in the her- barium of the University of Colorado Museum, Boulder (COLO), This list includes plants found only in the immediate vicinity of Summit Lake’s shores. Nomenclature follows Wittmann & Weber (1991). The list would be tripled in size if one included the drier tundra areas above and below the lake. An account of the flora of the entire mountain can be left to the future. Acomastylis rossii Bryophytes: Mosses Note: several of these species were reported by Weber (1960b). Andreaea heinemannii: 4475 Anomobryum julaceiim: 58532 Atrichum undulatiim: 4359 Aulacomnium palustre var. imbricatum: 15844 Bartramia ithyphylla: 16014 Brachythecium collinum var. sub- julaceum: 17615 B. turgidum: 11033 Bryoerylhrophyllumfemiginascens: 39080 B. recurvirostre: 39094 Bryum algovicum: 93694 B. alpinum: 16524 B. argenteum: 16562 B. cryophilwix: B. pseudotriquetrum: 39096 Calliergon stramineum: 17112 Canipylopus schimperi: 21676 Cirriphyllum cirrosum: 1406 Desmatodon latifolius: 11614 D. systylius: 4459 Dicranoweisia crispula: 4474 Dicranum elongatum: 4464 Didymodon asperifolius: 11039 Distichiiim capillaceum: 4469 D. incUnatum: 36519 Ditrichum flexicaule: 36518 Encalypta rhaptocarpa Schwaegr.: 4463 E. vulgaris: 4471 Entodon concinnus: 4348 Eurhynchium pulcheUiim: 4460 Fissidens osmundoides: 15321 Grimmia donniana: 4343 G. elatior: 4361 G. incurva: (on loan) Hydrogrimmia mollis: 4352 Hylocomium splendens: 4346 Hypntim revolutum: 4351 Limprichtia revolvens: 93474 Mnium blyttii: 4461 Mnium spinosum: 22449 Mnium thomsonii: 4478 Oncophonis virens: 23113 Oncophonis wahlenbergii: 219 Oreas martmia: 4341 Paraleucobryum enerve: 23461 Paraleucobryum longifolium: 10883 Plagiobryum demissum: 23651 Pla^obryum zierii: 40082 Pla^omnium ellipticum: 11027 Plagiothecium denticulatum: 4470 Pogonatum umigerum: 4357 Pohlia cruda: 11252 P. elongata var. minor: 4458 P. longicolla: 4358 P. proligera: 4354 Polytrichastrum alpinum: 3242 P. lon^setum: 4359 P. lyallii: 4466 Racomitrium canescens: 4362 R. fasciculare: 24886 Sanionia uncinata: 9288 Samienthypnum sarmentosum: 17104 Schistidium agassizii:36117 S. alpicola: 4472 S. gracile: on loan Stegonia latifolia: 4459 Tayloria homschuchii: 4355 Timmia austriaca: 4451 Tortella arctica: 11613 Trichostomum tenuirostre: 4360 Voitia nivalis: 11028 Wamstorfia exannulata 60467 Bryophytes: Hepatics Anthelia juratzkana: 91934 Blepharostoma trichophyllum: 11251 Cephaloziella divaricata var. scabra: 4450 Gymnocolea inflata: 10879 (with Scapania hyperborea) Gymnomitrion corallioides: 19885 Jungermannia exsertifolia: 25723 Jungemiannia sphaerocarpa: 4452 Lophozia attenuata: 21828 Lophozia barbata: 21858 Lophozia hatched: 4347 Lophozia incisa: 21944 Plagiochila porelloides: 8910 Scapania hyperborea: 25106 Scapania irrigua: 25421 Scapania mucronata: 36118 Tritomaria exsecta: 10878 T. polita (Nees) Schiffner: 11036 Number 4 Aquilegia Page 9 Lichens Note: taxa enclosed in square brackets i y^have been observed but not collected. w Acarospora chlorophana: 5634 pr. p. (with Rhizocarpon effiguratiim) A. fuscata: 5638 A. nitida: 65129 (saddle between summit and Mt. Epaulet) Aspicilia caesiocinerea: 1592 A, cinerea: 1604c A. mazarina: 65133 (between summit and Mt. Epaulet) A. cf. rolleana: 1003 (identification doubt- ful) Brodoa oroarctica: 1596 ’ Bryonora castanea: 5645 Buellia geophila: 5643 B. papillata: 1617 Caloplaca adnexa: 1592a C cinnamomea: 14248 C jwigermanniae: 3756 (above Lincoln Lake) C tetraspora: 3760 Candelariella aurella: 35251 C placodizans: 32527 C vitellina: * Catapyrenium cinereum: 1597 Cetraria commixta: 1595 C. cucullata: 3754 C. ericetorum: 2917 C. islandica: 3763 C. nivalis: 1408 C. tilesii: 5617 Cladonia cariosa: 14249 C. chlorophaea: 272 C. gracilis: 1603 C. pocillum: 1609 C. pyxidata: 1606 C. turgida: 35253 Coelocaulon aculeatum: 1614 Dactylina madreporiformis: 3761 Diploschistes scruposus: 5639 Ephebe lanata: 35261 Lecanora epibryon: 3764 L. polytropa: * L. pringlei: 35265 L. reagens: 1599 Lecidea atrobrunnea: 276 L. berengeriana: 3765 L. elata: 1604 L. scrobiculata: 1604b Lecidella wulfenii: 5640 Lecidoma demissum: 1613 Leciographa lamyi: 4701 Massalongia camosa: 1453 Micarea assimilata: 5641 Ochrolechia frigida: 3758 O. upsaliensis: 2930 Pachyospora verrucosa: 4697 Pannaria pezizoides: 5636 P. praetermissa: 2921 Parmelia saxatilis: 5637 Peltigera aphthosa: 5618 P. enimpens: 5630 P. lepidophora: 2922 P. malacea: 1602 P. mfescens: 1607 Phaeorhiza nimbosa: 3755 Physcia constipata: 35255 Physconia muscigena: 1615 Porina mammillosa: 35259 Pseudephebe pubescens: 1598 P. minuscula: 1610, 1612 Psoroma hypnorum: 2921 pr. p. Rhizocarpon effiguratiim: 5634 R. geographicum: 1594 Rhizoplaca melanophthalma: 281 Rinodina archaea: 35254 R. mniaraea: 35260 R. turfacea: 14247 Solorina bispora: 1591 S. crocea: 268 S. octospora: 1593 Sporastatia testudinea: 1605 Stereocaulon alpinum: 278 S. rivulorum: 14245 Thamnolia vemiicularis: 3753 Thrombium epigaeum: 5635 Toninia squalida: 37191 Umbilicaria decussata: 2926 Umbilicaria hyperborea: 1608 U. krascheninnikovii: 5633 U. virginis: 1616 Vemicariasp. * Xanthoparmelia coloradensis: 282 Xanthoria elegans: 2925 Vascular Plants Summit Lake is not notable for rich as- semblages of vascular plants, probably due, in part, to the very short growing season and the wet, mossy substrates. Many more species occur not far from Summit Lake along the road from Echo Lake, where the tundra is drier and more stony, and above Summit Lake up to the summit of the mountain. Note: voucher specimens were not col- lected for many common species (*) for which verification is not necessary. Apiaceae Oreoxis alpina: COLO 274520 Alsinaceae Alsinanthe stricta: 8613 Cerastium beeringianum: 8610 Eremogone fendleri * Lidia obtusiloba * Paronychia pulvinata * Sagina saginoides: 8937 Stellaria umbellata: 7890 Tryphane rubella * Asteraceae Artemisia scopulomm * Erigeron grandiflonis * Erigeron simplex * Ligularia taraxacoides: 71188 Rydbergia grandiflora * Senecio fremontii: 2915 Taraxacum ovinum * T. scopulomm * Boraginaceae Eritrichum aretioides * Mertensia lanceolata (viridis) 10975 Brassicaceae Draba exunguiculata: 8603 D. ff-ayana: 8538 Erysimum capitatum * Campanulaceae Campanula rotundifolia * C. uniflora * Caryophyllaceae Silene acaulis * Rydbergia grandiflora Page 10 Aquilegia Volume 15 Coptaceae Tlialictnim alpinum * Crassulaceae Rhodiola integrifolia * Cyperaceae C. crandallii: 9252 C. elynoides: 8539 C. haydeniana: 8931 C. maritima ssp. incurvifonnis: 10918 C misandra: 7277 C. nelsonii: 170365 C. nipestris: 8543 C scopulomm: 8536 Kobresia myosuroides: 8604 K. sibirica: 8609 K. simpliduscula 11133 Fabaceae Trifolium nanum * T. salictomm: 8494 Gentianodes algida Gentianaceae Chondrophylla prostrata * Gentianodes algida * Helleboraceae Psychrophila leptosepala * Hydrophyllaceae Phacelia sericea * Juncaceae Jimciis biglumis 8612 Jwicus drummondii * Luzula spicata * Rosaceae Acomastylis rossii * Potentilla diversifolia * Salicaceae Liiiaceae Lloydia serotina * Poaceae Deschampsia cespitosa subsp. alpicola: 6301 Deschampsia cespitosa * Festuca brachyphylla subsp. coloradensis * Festuca minutiflora: 8925 Phippsia algida: 7278 Poa abbreviata subsp, pattersonii: 119945 P. alpina: 8529 P. arctica: 8601 P. glauca * P. lettemianii: 8602 Trisetum spicatum: 195328 Polygonaceae Bistorta bistortoides * B. vivipara * Koenigia islandica: 8600 Oxyria digyna * Portulacaceae Claytonia megarhiza * Primuiaceae Androsace septentrionale * Primula angustifolia * Ranunculaceae Ranunculus adoneus * R. pedatifidus: 8531 R, pygmaeus: 8535 Salix arctica * Salix brachycarpa * Salix planifolia * Salix reticulata subsp. nivalis: 8533 Saxifragaceae Hirculus prorepens: 2281 Micranthes rhomboidea * Saxifraga cemua * S. hyperborea * S. rivularis: 8611 Spatularia foliolosa: 8525 Scrophulariaceae Besseya alpina * Castilleja occidentalis * Selaginellaceae Selaginella densa * Claytonia megarhiza Number 4 Aquilegia Page 1 1 — San Luis, continued from page 1 ^ mbcllifer. We found it in fruit — just the way umbellifer enthusiasts like to find them. This endemic is confined to vol- canic rocks in south-central Colorado. In Weber’s Colorado Flora: Eastern Slope this species has been kept in Aletes. In a crevice between the rocks here I ioundAsplenium trichomanes, the maidenhair spleenwort, which surprised me because it is usually found in cooler shady places. Throughout this long but very rewarding trip, Hobey Dixon did an outstanding ' job of planning and keeping the group together. I enjoyed the opportunity to see a new area and some of its rare plants. If you haven’t been on a CONPS field trip, plan to go on one next year. You don’t have to be a taxonomist to enjoy a day seeing plants with people who share your interest. jf. w' High Creek Fen Update The Nature Conservancy reports that High Creek Fen is well on its way to being purchased, although there have been delays in the negotiations. Many contributions have been received toward the amount needed for protec- tion of this unusual calcareous fen, which contains an abundance of rare plants (sGQ Aquilegia 15, #1 for details). The Nature Conservancy is encouraged and is proceeding with the purchase, but there is still a need— and still time — for you to contribute if you haven’t yet. If in- terested, contact The Nature Conser- vancy at; 1244 Pine St., Boulder, CO 80302. 4, Southwestern Rare Plant Conference The New Mexico Forestry and Resour- ces Conservation Division and the U.S. fish & Wildlife Service are hosting a con- ference on southwestern rare plant biol- ogy and management March 30 to April 2, 1992. Authors with topics concerning rare plants in the Four Corners states are invited to submit abstracts of papers they would like to present at the symposium. The categories include endangered plant law and policy, survey and impact assessment, habitat assessment, land use planning, population genetics, species biology and demography, monitoring techniques, and recovery. Location and agenda will be announced at a later date. Abstracts should be submitted by Oc- tober 1, 1991 to: Robert Sivinski/Karen Lightfoot NM Forestry Division PO Box 1948 Santa Fe, NM 87504 jf. Ethics Expanded Following up on our draft collection policy, we offer these notes from other native plant societies dealing with similar concerns. The Virginia Native Plant Society has distributed an article on alternatives to plant collection as- signments by secondary schoolteachers to every public school system in the state. Instead of collecting plants, stu- dents are asked to collect data from living plants, a practice which teaches them about the plants while encourag- ing them to recognize and respect their value, preventing the needless loss of in- dividuals of rare species to inex- perienced collectors. In an article for the Bulletin of the Na- tive Plant Society of Oregon, David H. Wagner, curator of the University of Oregon Herbarium, proposes a “1-in- 20” guideline for collectors of any plants, whether or not the species is rare. As he remarks, his challenge now on seeing an unusual plant is “Can I find twenty?” Only then will a single specimen be collected; at least forty must be present before two specimens are taken. In advocating the use of the l-in-20 rule, Dr. Wagner cites specimens of the rare pumice grape fern {Botrychium pumicola) he has been studying. A single specimen, collected in 1941, rep- resents fully 50% of the total population found at a location where the plant no longer occurs. In the early 1950’s, a stu- dent intern searching for additional sites in Crater Lake National Park found two localities and collected all three plants from these sites where it has also not been found since then. Although such incidents may be con- sidered extreme, they clearly do not ad- vance our knowledge or the species’ survival. Supporting the Oregon Society’s policy that “Collecting must never endanger a plant population,” Dr. Wagner recommends widespread ap- plication of the l-in-20 rule as a minimal criterion to be met before any taking of a plant be considered. jf, -S.L.W. Calendar Overview 1991 Fall Workshops Sept 28 Selected Genera in the Apiaceae; Univ. Wyoming Oct 12 Botanical ilftistr Foothills N.C., Bou