Search Wildlife
≡
(Tap or click to view all images.)
Photo by Ben Franklin
Photo Courtesy of Utah Division of Wildlife Resources; Utah Division of Wildlife Resources; Sources: ESRI, USGS, NOAA
Welsh's Milkweed
Asclepias welshii
NatureServe conservation status
Global (G-rank): G1G2
State (S-rank): S1
External links
Species range
Coral Pink sand dunes in sagebrush, juniper, and ponderosa pine communities at 1700 to 1900 m in Kane Co., Utah; and Apache and Coconino cos., Ariz.; a sand dune Dixie Divide endemic (Welsh et al. 2015). Occurs on the Coral Pink Sand Dunes and the Sand Hills 8 miles northeast of the Dunes, both in Kane County, Utah. Several disjunct populations occur in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs area near and along the Utah/Arizona border.
Estimate from download of data from Utah Rare Plant Database on August 20 2021.
Geocat 21 observations: Extent of Occurrence: 745.043 km2.
Threats or limiting factors
In Utah, thousands of people visit the state park area for OHV, camping, hiking, etc.; livestock trampling may also be a threat although milkweeds plants are not typically grazed. The BLM Ferry Swale and Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliff populations (Paria Wilderness Area) do not show any immediate impacts and are protected from OHV use, and livestock grazing.
The more immediate threats would be a small occupied geographically area, drought, and undisturbed dunes. This species prefers some amount of disturbance whether by wind, or OHV use, however, the age class observed is generally primary or secondary in areas with OHV use (Kneller 2002). More mature stems tend to be observed in those areas with natural disturbance such as wind (Kneller 2002).
