Colorado Wildflowers:   A Field Guide

Colorado Wildflowers contains photographs and information for over 900 Colorado plant species.

This website replaces the Eastern Colorado Wildflowers (www.easterncoloradowildflowers.com) website.

I am an amateur botanist, and this is reflected in the content. Plant descriptions are simplified to be more accessible to hobbyists and are not intended for advanced or professional botanists. If you believe a species has been misidentified, please send an email and I will make corrections. This feedback will strengthen the site as a resource.

Species are listed alphabetically by Common names, Scientific names or Families. Plant names are those used by Ackerfield in Flora of Colorado, 2nd Edition (see References) with a few exceptions.

Vegetation life zones are best described according to plant communities, but can be approximated by the listed elevations. Zone elevations overlap because plant communities are found at different elevations in various regions of the state. The Colorado Native Plant Society provides a nice map and descriptions of Colorado's life zones.

Times of flowering are estimates based on references and my own observations. Flowering can vary depending on elevation and climate.

Very few grasses and sedges are included and this website should be not used for identifying plants in those groups. I hope to expand coverage of sedges in the future. Grasses, not so much...

Colorado Wildflowers does not currently contain range maps, though that is part of the long term plan. Ackerfield's Flora of Colorado, 2nd Edition (see References) contains excellent maps and can be used as a companion to this website. BONAP provides county level maps for each species. The SEINet website also has mapping features.

All photographs are created by the web author. Photographs are copyrighted and may not be used without permission. High resolution photo files of Colorado wildflowers are available. Please contact for details. Permission will almost always be granted if used for educational purposes, but please contact prior to use.

Wikipedia has a good glossary of botanical terms to help with interpretation of plant descriptions.

Acknowledgements
Thank you to my children, Kate and Charlie, for their many years of patience and support while I stopped to look at every plant during family hikes. I am deeply indebted to Rob Raymond, a talented software engineer who brought this website and the associated app to life. Thank you, also, to the many skilled botanists who have taken me along on field trips and shared their knowledge from years of hard work. All of you inspire me.