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Photo by Bill Gray; Bill Gray; Bill Gray
Utah Phacelia
Phacelia utahensis
NatureServe conservation status
Global (G-rank): G2
State (S-rank): S2
External links
Phenology
Flowers April to June.
Species range
Basin and Range and Colorado Plateau; Sevier River Valley, Sanpete and Sevier Counties and disjunct to Carbon County, Utah. The Carbon County location is based on one historic collection which had immature seeds (an important identification character) and faded flowers; reverification is needed. The Carbon County record is from a specimen collected in the mid 1900s (NatureServe element occurrence data 2013). The Utah Rare Plant Guide (2013) does not show the distribution extending into Carbon County, and Carbon County was not used in determining the range extent during the 2013 review of the global rank.
Threats or limiting factors
The Arapien Shale Formation has been mined for its high content of gypsum, however, since 2008 mining for gypsum in Utah is at low levels due to the economic down-turn (Boden et al. 2011). Approximately half of its habitat is privately owned. Disturbance from grazing and recreation is a threat to several occurrences (NatureServe element occurrence data 2013). Observations in the Utah Rare Plant Database note the following threats: invasive plants, farming and ranching, hiking/foot travel, mountain biking, OHV motorized recreation, and utility and service lines (accessed 2025).
