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Semi-desert Wildflowers
of Canyons of the Ancients National Monument
Photos and text by Al Schneider

Click on a thumbnail below to start the slide show.

The Canyons of the Ancients National Monument is in the southwest corner of Colorado, west of Mesa Verde National Park. The 180,000 acre Monument, established by President Clinton, is comprised of numerous canyons and mesas ranging in elevation from 5,000 to 7,000 feet.  It is a scenic and botanic treasure, but it was actually set aside to protect the innumerable Anasazi archaeological sites -- room blocks, entire pueblos, midden mounds, scattered tools, irrigation check dams, etc. 

The slide show below provides photographs of a few of the numerous high desert plants that flower in the Monument. Most plants shown bloom from late March to early June, but several of the many plants that bloom in the summer are also shown.

Start the slide show by clicking the first photograph. This will bring up a full-sized page with a larger photograph and descriptive information. For even more photographs and descriptive details, click the name on the full-sized page.


Acrolasia


Mentzelia albicaulis

Allium


Allium textile

Astragalus amphioxys


Astragalus amphioxys

Astragalus


Astragalus flavus

Astragalus


Astragalus mollissimus

Astragalus


Astragalus nuttallianus

Boechera


Boechera
quadrangulensis

Calochortus


Calochortus flexuosus

Cordylanthus


Cordylanthus wrightii

Cryptantha


Cryptantha minima

Cymopteris


Vesper bulbosus

Draba

Draba cuneifolia


Plants of

Canyons of

the Ancients


Ephedra


Ephedra torreyana

Eremogone


Eremogone eastwoodiae

Eriogonum


Eriogonum ovalifolium

Fendlera


Fendlera rupicola

Gilia


Gilia ophthalmoides

Gilia

Gilia sinistra

Hymenopappus

Hymenopappus filifolius

Lappula


Lappula
redowski

Machaeranthera


Xanthisma spinulosum

Nuttallia


Mentzelia pterosperma

Nuttallia


Mentzelia pterosperma

Opuntai


Opuntia phaeacantha

Oreocarya


Oreocarya flava

Oxybaphus


Mirabilis linearis

Pedicularis

Pedicularis centranthera

Penstemon

Penstemon lentus

Penstemon

Penstemon
linarioides

Penstemon


Penstemon utahensis

Streptanthella

Streptanthella longirostris

Streptanthus


Streptanthus cordatus

Townsendia

Townsendia annua

Townsendia


Townsendia incana