Vascular Plant Species of the Comanche National Grassland in United States Department Southeastern Colorado of Agriculture
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Vascular Plant Species of the Comanche National Grassland in United States Department Southeastern Colorado of Agriculture Forest Service Donald L. Hazlett Rocky Mountain Research Station General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-130 June 2004 Hazlett, Donald L. 2004. Vascular plant species of the Comanche National Grassland in southeast- ern Colorado. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-130. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 36 p. Abstract This checklist has 785 species and 801 taxa (for taxa, the varieties and subspecies are included in the count) in 90 plant families. The most common plant families are the grasses (Poaceae) and the sunflower family (Asteraceae). Of this total, 513 taxa are definitely known to occur on the Comanche National Grassland. The remaining 288 taxa occur in nearby areas of southeastern Colorado and may be discovered on the Comanche National Grassland. The Author Dr. Donald L. Hazlett has worked as an ecologist, botanist, ethnobotanist, and teacher in Latin America and in Colorado. He has specialized in the flora of the eastern plains since 1985. His many years in Latin America prompted him to include Spanish common names in this report, names that are seldom reported in floristic pub- lications. He is also compiling plant folklore stories for Great Plains plants. Since Don is a native of Otero county, this project was of special interest. All Photos by the Author Cover: Purgatoire Canyon, Comanche National Grassland You may order additional copies of this publication by sending your mailing information in label form through one of the following media. Please specify the publication title and series number. Fort Collins Service Center Telephone (970) 498-1392 FAX (970) 498-1396 E-mail [email protected] Web site http://www.fs.fed.us/rm Mailing address Publications Distribution Rocky Mountain Research Station 240 West Prospect Road Fort Collins, CO 80526 Rocky Mountain Research Station Natural Resources Research Center 2150 Centre Avenue, Building A Fort Collins, CO 80526 Vascular Plant Species of the Comanche National Grassland in Southeastern Colorado Donald L. Hazlett Contents Introduction . 1 History . 1 Geology . 4 Climate . 4 Vegetation . 5 Methods . 5 Area Designations . 5 Habitat Designations . 7 Plant Species Nomenclature . 10 Discussion . 10 Plant Common Names . 10 Rare Plant Species . 11 Weeds . 13 Summary . 14 References Cited . 14 Acknowledgments . 15 Appendix I. Checklist of Vascular Plants of the Comanche National Grassland . 16 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-130. 2004 1 Introduction few additional plant species. The addition of more plant names will help realize a final objective of this report: This report includes natural and cultural history infor- to promote interest and a greater understanding of the mation for southeastern Colorado. The natural history southeastern Colorado flora. component is a checklist of vascular plants that occur on To introduce and place this checklist in context, this or near the Comanche National Grassland. Grasslands, report includes summaries of history, geology, climate, hills, and canyons of the Comanche National Grassland and vegetation types of southeastern Colorado. The cover approximately 443,765 acres of land in portions methods used to select scientific names, to assign plants of Baca, Las Animas, and Otero Counties (figure 1). to geographical areas, and to assign each plant species to Administration of these National Forest System (NFS) a habitat are described. The last section has a brief dis- lands is by the United States Department of Agriculture cussion of common names, rare plants, and weeds. The (USDA), Forest Service (FS). This report is intended for appendix is the annotated list of the vascular plants in use by local residents, ranchers, farmers, scientists, ad- the study area. ministrators, and visitors. Folk and Spanish plant names are included because they are of special interest to the History public. To facilitate identifications, a primary habitat is assigned for each species. Plant species currently known The prehistory of the Purgatoire Canyon area of only from nearby areas, not yet from the Comanche the Comanche National Grassland includes more than National Grassland, are also included. Additions to this 1,300 tracks of about 100 different prehistoric animals list will occur, since no initial checklist for such a large (Lockley and others 1997). The allosaurus, brachiosau- and diverse area is ever complete. Any botanist or inter- rus, brontosaurus, camptosaurus, and stegosaurus are ested amateur that accepts the challenge should discover a among the well-known dinosaurs that made these tracks Figure 1—Map of the scattered 443,765 acres of Comanche National Grassland (green) in southeastern Colorado. State land is blue and Bureau of Land Management land is yellow. The northwestern Timpas Unit is in Otero and Las Animas counties. The southeastern Carrizo Unit is in Baca and Las Animas counties. USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-130. 2004 1 in sedimentary structures 144 to 62 million years ago, down while on horseback. In a dangling position, the during the Late Jurassic Epoch. The sequence of early Comanche would use the neck of a running horse as a human presence in the Purgatoire is difficult to piece to- shield while shooting a rifle or bow-and-arrow from un- gether, but Lockley and others (1997) have made an ef- derneath the horse’s neck. fort to unravel this history. They assign the Clovis as For over 150 years after this southward migra- the first culture, present during a Paleo-Indian Period tion (1700-1860), the Arkansas Valley of southeast- (10,000 B.C. to 5500 B.C.). Evidence for this culture ern Colorado was a part of the Comanche homeland. includes fluted projectile points, which are tools that For most of the first 50 years of this time interval, the identify the Clovis, and the subsequent but overlapping Comanche shared the region with Apache, Ute, and Folsom hunter-gather cultures. The next period of 6,000 other tribes. The Apache eventually moved south (late years was the Archaic Period (about 5500 B.C. to 200), 1820s) and the Utes were driven to the foothills (1755- when projectile point styles improved and other hand- 1779). During the middle 50 years of this 150-year oc- made items such as baskets, cording for lines, and nets cupation (1755-1805) the Comanche were the main were used. Just before the modern era was the Ceramic proprietors of the southeastern Colorado plains. At this Period (200 to 1750), when pottery and bow-and-ar- time the Comanche homeland (Comancheria in Spanish) row weapons became prevalent. During this period the extended from western Oklahoma and southwestern Apishapa culture (about 1000) grew beans, squash, and Kansas south to northern Mexico. The Comanche nation drew rock art that can still be seen. Resident cultures learned to co-exist with neighboring Kiowa, Arapaho, in the Purgatoire Valley during the late Ceramic peri- and Cheyenne tribes, but they often fought with Ute od were a mix of Pueblo, Southwest, Jicarilla Apache, neighbors toward the northwest and Apache neighbors and others (1620-1720). As this period ended and set- toward the south. During the last half of this 150 year tlers entered, the Comanche National Grassland re- residency, the “white men” and Spaniards were continu- gion had Ute tribes toward the mountains, the nomadic ally entering Comanche lands. Comanche and Kiowa south of the Arkansas River, and In addition to being threatened by well-armed immi- the Cheyenne and Arapaho to the north. This brief his- grants, the stability of the Comanche homeland was also tory will focus on the Comanche. diminished by disease (Blevins 1993). During 1780 and The Comanche National Grassland is named in hon- 1781 the Comanche lost as many as half of their 7,000 or of the Comanche tribe. The Comanche name is be- to 12,000 members to a smallpox epidemic. From 1849 lieved to be derived from Komontcia, a Ute word that to 1850 more Comanche died of cholera than in battles means “People Who Fight Us All the Time” (Pritzker (Pritzker, 2000). With reduced numbers, the Comanche 2000). This nickname, assigned by the Utes, reflects the suffered a major defeat on September 3, 1779, in a battle Comanche reputation among other tribes and among pi- near the current town of Colorado City, Pueblo County. oneers as fierce fighters. The Comanches speak a Uto- This defeat was at the hands of a New Mexican army led Aztecan language that suggests they were once part by Gov. Juan Bautista de Anza. Killed in this key battle of the Eastern Shoshone that lived in the Gila River were the charismatic Comanche leader Cureno Verde area of Arizona (3,000-500 B.C.). The names Tecolote (Greenhorn), his son, a shaman, and four of Cureno Mesa and Tecolote Creek on the Comanche National Verde’s captains. After the death of these key Comanche Grassland are remnants of the Aztec influence, since leaders the remaining Comanche people attempted to re- tecolotl is Náhuatl (an important Aztec language) for group. The reconsolidated Comanche eventually began owl. to seek formal peace settlements with the Mexican au- The Comanche ancestors first migrated from Mexico thorities. After Cuerno Verde was replaced by the less and the Southwest to Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming and did aggressive Ecueracapa (“leather cape”), a time of un- not return to southeastern Colorado until the late sev- easy peace truces began. enteenth century (Pritzker 2000). There are records of With Ecueracapa as chief, trade relations between Ute tribe presence in southeastern Colorado by 1700 Comanches and Mexican leaders also resumed. When and evidence that the Comanche soon followed. The Mexican residents recognized that Comanche peace Comanche migration to Colorado is thought to have oc- treaties were usually respected, entrepreneurs decided curred soon after the Comanches acquired horses.