Mass bloom of Carson Valley monkeyflower, Erythranthe carsonensis (42474023255)

Description:

Description: mass bloom of Carson Valley monkeyflower, Erythranthe carsonensis, Nevada, Pine Nut Mountains, Hot Springs Mountain, Carson Valley drainage, elevation 1481 m (4860 ft). An auspicious start to the amazing flowering year of 2017, with surveys of Carson Valley monkeyflower. Carson Valley monkeyflower was recognized as a distinct species by Naomi Fraga in 2012, after having been confused with Erythranthe (=Mimulus) montioides and E. rubellus since its discovery in the mid 1800s. It is a rare plant species, known only from Washoe Valley, Eagle Valley, and Carson Valley of Carson City, Douglas County, and southern Washoe County Nevada, and small portions of adjacent Alpine County, California, and Lyon County, Nevada. It has been found nowhere else in the western United States despite extensive searches. The species grows mainly in sagebrush-bitterbrush vegetation on sandy soils of the valley bottoms and adjacent lower slopes, and has been significantly impacted by urban and residential development. Favorable conditions in spring of 2016 and 2017 allowed for extensive surveys and discovery of large new populations. Some of the new populations are on public lands well removed from immediate development, but the majority are still within or adjacent to ongoing urban and residential expansion. Also visible in this image are Wyoming sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata subsp. wyomingensis) and whitestem stickleaf (Mentzelia albicaulis). Date: 19 April 2017, 11:04. Source: mass bloom of Carson Valley monkeyflower, Erythranthe carsonensis. Author: Jim Morefield from Nevada, USA. Camera location39° 05′ 17.92″ N, 119° 43′ 03.43″ W View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap 39.088311; -119.717620.