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The Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), is a medium -sized cat with long legs, large, well - furred <br />paws, long tufts on the ears, and a short, black - tipped tail. The winter pelage of the lynx is dense <br />and has a grizzled appearance with grayish -brown mixed with buff or pale brown fur on the <br />back, and grayish -white or buff -white fur on the belly, legs and feet. Summer pelage of the lynx <br />is more reddish to gray- brown. Adult males average 22 pounds in weight and 33.5 inches in <br />length (head to tail), and females average 19 pounds and 32 inches. The lynx's long legs and <br />large feet make it highly adapted for hunting in deep snow. <br />Suitable habitat includes primary habitat of coniferous forests of spruce (Picea spp.) and fir <br />(Abies spp.) or lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), and secondary habitat of aspen (Populus spp.) or <br />Douglas -fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) mixed with the primary habitat at elevations between 8,000 <br />and 11,500 feet. Lynx also periodically traverse other forested and non - forested habitats <br />including lower elevation woodlands and shrublands. Within these general forest types, lynx are <br />most likely to persist in areas that receive deep snow and have high- density populations of <br />snowshoe hares, the principal prey of lynx. <br />Ute ladies'- tresses orchid <br />The Ute ladies'- tresses orchid (Spiranthes diluvialis), is a perennial, terrestrial orchid with stems <br />8 to 20 inches tall, arising from tuberously thickened roots. Its narrow 0.39 inch leaves can reach <br />11 inches long. Basal leaves are the longest and become reduced in size up the stem. The <br />flowering stalk consists of numerous small white or ivory flowers clustered into a spike <br />arrangement at the top of the stem. The species is characterized by whitish, stout, ringent <br />(gaping at the mouth) flowers. It blooms, generally, from late July through August. <br />Habitat for the Ute ladies' - tresses has expanded since the 1992 listing, which includes moist <br />meadows associated with perennial stream terraces, floodplains, and oxbows at elevations <br />between 4,300 to 6,850 feet; seasonally flooded river terraces, sub - irrigated or spring -fed <br />abandoned stream channels and valleys, and lakeshores; and areas along irrigation canals, berms, <br />levees, irrigated meadows, excavated gravel pits, roadside barrow pits, reservoirs, and other <br />human- modified wetlands. Over one -third of all known Ute ladies'- tresses populations are found <br />on alluvial banks, point bars, floodplains, or ox -bows associated with perennial streams. <br />Colorado populations of Ute ladies'- tresses orchids may be found within north - central and <br />central Colorado and the upper Colorado River basin, particularly in the Uinta Basin. <br />Dudley Bluffs bladderpod <br />The Dudley Bluffs bladderpod (Physaria congesta), is a rare member of the Brassicaceae <br />(mustard) family Dudley Bluffs bladderpod is an extremely small cushion plant only 0.4 to 1.2 <br />inches in diameter with a congested mass of bright yellow flowers and narrow silvery leaves <br />rising from a long, thin taproot. The cushion growth habit is an adaptation to erosive badland <br />soils, which has evolved independently in several unrelated taxa in this area. Flowering is <br />typically during April and May, and fruit set from late May into June. <br />Page 8 <br />