Gutierrezia elegans

Gutierrezia elegans, the Lone Mesa snakeweed, is a species of Gutierrezia endemic to the United States.

Gutierrezia elegans
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Gutierrezia
Species:
G. elegans
Binomial name
Gutierrezia elegans
Al Schneid. & P.Lyon

Discovery

Gutierrezia elegans was discovered by Peggy Lyon, a Colorado State University botanist, and Al Schneider, an amateur botanist of the Four Corners area, August 4, 2008.[1] Lyon and Schneider found the plant while they were putting together a list of plant species in Lone Mesa State Park in Colorado. Peggy said that they would have missed noticing the plant if they were only looking for known rare plants.[2] They sent the specimen to Guy Nesom, a plant expert. Guy and other experts examined the plant and agreed that it was a previously undiscovered species of Gutierrezia. Tim Hogan, an employee of the University of Colorado Herbarium, said that the discovery shows us how little we know about biodiversity.[1]

The Lone Mesa snakeweed was the sixth new plant discovered in Colorado in roughly 15 years.[2]

References
  1. Pepperl, Natasha (2009-02-04). "CSU botanist discovers new plant species". Collegian. Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
  2. Jaffe, Mark (2009-02-02). ""Pretty" snakeweed discovered in on a mesa". Denver Post. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
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