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Red Creek Quarry, Exhibit J - Vegetation Information <br /> <br /> <br />11 <br />DRAFT for review purposes only. Use of contents on this sheet is subject to the limitations specified at the beginning of this document. <br />Red Creek Quarry_VegReport_20230911 <br />4.2 Discussion <br />For a majority of the transects, tumbleweed and blue grama were the most abundant plant species ob- <br />served. Differences in abundance and diversity of plant species appears to be driven by the amount of avail- <br />able water, with the driest areas having more tree cholla, prickly pear and yucca while areas closer to water <br />sources were dominated by sedges, a variety of grasses and invasive saltcedars. The areas closer to drain- <br />age areas generally have more trees, shrubs and flowering plants as opposed to areas dominated by tumble- <br />weed and cacti. <br />The entire area is subject to cattle grazing with no area except for one transect atop a hill absent of cattle <br />tracks and manure. Plants present are well adapted to the presence of cattle. <br />Notably, Transects 32 and 36 (and to a lesser extent Transect 9), which are all within the Penrose-Midway- <br />Rock outcrop complex soil type, with 10 to 45 percent slopes, had a higher diversity of plants overall and <br />more numerous flowering plants as opposed to grasses. In these transects there were plants identified that <br />were not found in any of the other transects. Some of these plants include: <br />• Silverleaf scorpionweed, Phacelia hastata <br />• Viper’s bugloss, Echium vulgare <br />• Zyzotes milkweed, Asclepias oenotheroides <br />• Butterball, Eriogonum ovalifollium <br />• Caterpillar phacelia, Phacelia cicutaria <br />• Prairie fleabane, Erigeron strigosus <br />• Rocky mountain zinnia, Zinnia grandiflora <br />• Common starlily, Leucocrinum montanum <br />• Colorado four-o’clock, Mirabilis multiflora <br />• Blackfoot daisy, Melampodium leucanthum <br />• Threadleaf ragwort, Senecio flaccidus <br />4.2.1 Rare plants <br />No rare plants were observed during the field surveys. <br />Colorado’s Conservation Data Explorer (CODEX) report (Attachment B) lists the following species as docu- <br />mented or potential occurrences within one mile of the area: <br />• Golden Blazingstar, Mentzella chrysantha <br />• Pueblo Goldenweed, Oonopsis sp. <br />• Barnaby’s Feverfew, Parthenium tetraneuris <br />• Variable-color Beardtongue, Penstemon versicolor <br />• Rocky Mountain Bladderpod, Physaria calcicole <br />• Round-leaf Four-o’clock, Mirabilis rotundifolia <br />• Fendler’s Townsend-daisy, Townsendia fendleri <br />• Dwarf Milkweed, Asclepias uncialis