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and low- growing moss species such as Polemonium caeruleum and <br />Hypnum spp., respectively. The overstory may be very dense or <br />more open as when the carr grades into a fen (Cooper 1986). The <br />various shrub species present may include Salix planifolia, S. <br />wolfii, S. brachycarpa, Pentaphylloides floribunda, Betula <br />glandulosa (Hess 1981; Phillips 1977). The Chase Gulch site in <br />Gilpin County, and the Carpenter site in Park county are examples <br />of carrs which are being, or have been excavated for their peat. <br />Both fens and carrs provide valuable habitat for rare or <br />endangered plant species in Colorado. For example, vegetation <br />surveys conducted in the northwestern portion of South Park <br />revealed the presence of several unique plant species. Most of <br />those found are disjuncts and are not listed as rare or <br />endangered species at the time because they had never before been <br />described from this area. <br />Although many of the same rare species were found in other <br />Park County sites, the most unique site identified was the <br />Windmill site located on High Creek. Included in the new <br />discoveries at the Windmill site are no fewer than seven species <br />that had either never been described from the Southern Rocky <br />Mountains or were thought to have been extirpated. Among the <br />species identified one, Salix mvrtillifolia, had not previously <br />been identified in the conterminous United States. Its discovery <br />is of national significance. <br />Four additional species that are of regional significance <br />have also been identified from sites in the South Park area. <br />47 <br />