WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

Growing from a basal rosette of leaves, the stems reach 40-inches tall with a one-sided, elongated cluster of showy red, trumpet-shaped flowers. The leaves have an unpleasant smell and the red flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds.

FLOWERS: May–September. Numerous scarlet to red-orange to pink flowers bloom on a one-sided panicle (short stems branching off the main stem), tubular flowers 5/8–1 1/8-inches long (15–30 mm) flair open with 5 long, spreading, pointed lobes, usually with red and white splotches; anthers either inside or protruding beyond floral tube depending on subspecies.

LEAVES: Basal rosette and alternate stem leaves. Blades 3/4–3 1/8-inches (2–8 cm) long with thin, linear segments along the midrib. Leaves get smaller up the stem.

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly, silty soils of meadows, open slopes; pinyon-juniper, pine-oak, aspen-mixed conifer forests.

ELEVATION: 6,000–11,000 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, OK, OR, TX, UT, WA, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: 14 species of Ipomopsis in NM; 4 subspecies of I. aggregata with subtle differences in flower color and anther length. The Holy Ghost Skyrocket, I. sancti-spiritus, occurring only along Holy Ghost Creek in the Pecos Wilderness, Sangre de Cristo Mountains, has a 5/8-inch (15–18 mm) long floral tube with no dark spots. Other pink-flowering skyrockets in NM are less that 12-inches tall. The other species of Ipomopsis in NM have white to blue flowers.

NM COUNTIES: Nearly statewide in mid- to high-elevation mountain habitats (absent eastern plains): Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Dona Anna, Eddy, Grant, Lincoln, Los Alamos, Luna, McKinley, Mora, Otero, Quay, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Union, Valencia.