Durango Plants
A guide to the native plants of the Durango, Colorado area. This guide may also include plants from nearby areas such as Northern New Mexico, Southeast Utah & the rest of Colorado. This site is a free service of miLomedia web design in Durango, Colorado. Our interest in Colorado Native Plants is a fun hobby for us, so don't look to our site for scientific descriptions. I frequenty use words such as "pleasant", "fun", "gorgeous" or "filthy" to describe plants.
Don't Keep Quiet!
You can help identify plants, or post photos of plants you'd like to see identified within our Facebook Group
Our goal is to spread awareness in Colorado about the value of using native plants in water wise landscaping, as well as celebrate the beauty of these plants that often go unnoticed. Xeric planting with Native Plants can give you a beautiful landscape which requires less water, is well adapted to our climate, and will entice wildlife.
| Have you seen... Pinus edulis Piñon Pine Piñon Pine is one of the defining species in the lower foothills and Pinon/Juniper Forests South of Durango. It has much shorter needles and is shorter in stature than its cousin, the Ponderossa Pine. While there are some giants in the area, most Piñon you'll see are between 15 and 35 feet tall, with a very interesting branch structure (see pictures). The fruits on the Piñon Pine are widely sought by foodies, and were a staple of early indigenous cultures in the area. Recently, a drought allowed the IPS Beetle to decimate large numbers of the tree. Luckily, many survived and continue to flourish in the four corners. Another cause of Piñon dieback is from over irrigation on developed land. Moral of story, if you have a nice, grassy lawn, you're probably killing the Piñons. |
