Tag: beardtongue

High in the Uinta Basin, grows the rare White River Beardtongue, a purple bell with a black tongue. Along with its pink, orange-tongued cousin, Graham’s beardtongue, these two varieties of penstemons survive only in the "shale barrens" of Northern Colorado-Utah border. Nearly all their habitat is threatened by shale mining and oil and gas drilling.

Saving tiny patches of rare plants from extinction is no easy task. In most cases, you can't just put a fence around them and call it good.