Virgin River Cryptantha

Description

Like common mullein (previous post) miner-s candle makes a tall spike of flowers in the Rocky Mountain front range. And yet these plants are very different. Miner-s candle, Oreocarya virgata, formerly Cryptantha virgata, grows on rocky slopes of the Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountains extend 3000 miles (4800 km) from northern British Columbia in Canada to New Mexico in the southern United States, so there would seem to be a lot of similar terrain where miner's candle could grow. But it doesn't . It is found only in Wyoming and Colorado. (See records in Rocky Mountain herbarium