Holy Ghost Skyrocket: Rare Plants of New Mexico
Did you know New Mexico has 235 rare and endangered plant species? The Holy Ghost Skyrocket aka Holy Ghost Ipomopsis (Ipomopsis sancti-spiritus) is New Mexico’s rarest wildflower, list as both a federally and state endangered species.
This attractive wildflower blooms in July and August with clusters of bright pink flowers filling a stalk that grows up to two feet tall. Hummingbirds, butterflies, and sphynx moths delight in the tubular flowers whose petals form a five-pointed star.
Botanists know that the plants grow best in bare minerals on rocky hillsides. But it is still a mystery why the entire worldwide distribution of the plant is limited to a two-mile stretch of Holy Ghost Canyon in the Santa Fe National Forest. “It’s kind of a mystery plant to many of us, because it’s so rare and is highly localized,” says Daniela Roth, coordinator of New Mexico Rare Plant Program. Of course, when you name something after the Holy Ghost, mysteries are bound to follow.
Two in five species of plants are at risk of extinction worldwide. The Holy Ghost Skyrocket is just one example of this. Yet plant conservation has not generated nearly the same sense of urgency that animal conservation has. In the U.S. plants receive just 5 percent of federal dollars spent on species conservation. The term “plant blindness” coined by two botanists, describes humanity’s inability to appreciate the importance of plants, or even to notice the plants all around them.
Plants provide oxygen, shelter, clothing, food, and more. About 25 percent of prescription medicines are derived from plants. Rare plants are like canaries in a coal mine telling us if ecosystems are in healthy condition. And then, there’s the simple beauty of a plant in bloom and the belief that we should protect what is beautiful in our world.
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The sole location of the Holy Ghost Skyrocket is along a narrow road. For most of its length, the road is only wide enough for one car. In order to pass each other, cars will pull onto the shoulder or up onto the steep hills, often crushing this rare wildflower without knowing it. Thankfully, the USFS has begun installing poles along the road to protect the flower and its habitat.
Flower admirers have also been known to pick the flowers while in bloom to decorate their picnic tables. It’s likely true that one wildflower picked likely won’t have a drastic effect on the environment. However, picking a rare wildflower already backed into a corner by loss of habitat, invasive species, and climate change does contribute to its demise.
Millions of people visit public lands each year and if only a small fraction of them each picked a few flowers, soon there would be none for the rest of us to enjoy. Almost all wildflowers are fragile and many wilt and perish soon after being picked.
Public education about rare and endangered wildflowers is a double-edged sword. It’s important for people to know about wildflowers so they can support conservation efforts and make informed choices. Yet, some people are illegally removing wildflowers and other native plants from their natural habitats. In their desire to own the rarest of the rare, they are bringing those precious jewels ever closer to extinction. In some cases, entire populations of a species have been stolen.
The worst thing that we can do is keep silent about the decline of native plants and their habitats. Spread the word, but make sure to do your research first to ensure that you spread the word in a way that protects endangered plants and keeps their exact locations protected.
We don’t often realize it, but wildflowers support entire ecosystems for pollinators, birds, and small animals. They depend on seeds, nectar, and pollen for their food supply, shelter, and life support. In addition, some pollinators have very small home ranges, others depend on just one species of plant and will die if their habitat is destroyed. There is a web of interaction between plants and animals. When you lose one, it often affects other animals and plants, and may set into motion a snowball of decline.
The Pecos Valley, the larger ecosystem of the Holy Ghost Skyrocket, is an area that is being targeted for exploratory mining operations that could contaminate the Pecos River and its tributaries and damage the ecosystem and several endangered species that call the area home.
In April of 2019, Comexico LLC, a Colorado subsidiary of Australian mining company New World Cobalt Ltd, acquired 20 Federal Mining Claims near Tererro, NM in the Pecos Valley and the surrounding national forest area. The company intends to start prospecting in the area for gold, copper and zinc. The claim area contains inventoried roadless area proposed for wilderness designation. The Pecos Valley is still recovering from mining operations in the 1990s that took a heavy toll on the environment and recreational economy due to contamination and clean up.
