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Chionophila jamesii
Chionophila jamesii, the Rocky Mountain snowlover, is one of the two species in the snowlover genus. It only grows at high elevations in the Southern Rocky Mountains of the western United States.
Rocky Mountain snowlover is endemic to the Southern Rocky Mountains in southern Wyoming, Colorado, and north-central New Mexico. Its range stretches from the Medicine Bow Mountains in Wyoming south through Colorado to the Culebra Range in northernmost New Mexico. In Wyoming it grows in one area extending across the boarder of Carbon County and Albany County with the largest single population found on the western slopes of Medicine Bow Peak in Carbon County. The species is widespread in the mountains of Colorado with most specimens found in areas near the Continental Divide, but with some sightings significantly to the east or west. To the south it is only known from Taos County, New Mexico. The lowest elevation for the species is 3,300 meters (10,800 ft), and Ackerfield reports it can grow as high as 4,300 meters (14,000 ft).
Rarely, Rocky Mountain snowlover is cultivated in rock gardens. It is grown in moist, but well drained, raised beds with gravel soil. The other species in the genus is not in cultivation.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Chionophila jamesii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
