Denver-Boulder Metro Area: Plants

This guide contains mosses, ferns, vines, aquatic plants, cactuses, shrubs, trees, and other plants that can be found in the Denver-Boulder Metro Area, including Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson Counties.

horsetails ¹
Equisetum

rough horsetail ²
Equisetum hyemale

common bracken ³
Pteridium aquilinum

western lady fern ⁴
Athyrium filix-femina cyclosorum

Alpine Lady-fern ⁵
Athyrium distentifolium

rattlesnake fern ⁶
Botrypus virginianus

American parsley fern ⁷
Cryptogramma acrostichoides

northern holly fern ⁸
Polystichum lonchitis

American Alpine Lady Fern ⁹
Athyrium distentifolium americanum

northern oak fern ¹⁰
Gymnocarpium dryopteris

variegated horsetail ¹¹
Equisetum variegatum

Fendler's false cloak fern ¹²
Argyrochosma fendleri

black spleenwort ¹³
Asplenium adiantum-nigrum

Wright's cliffbrake ¹⁴
Pellaea wrightiana

Ferriss' horsetail
Equisetum × ferrissii

Fendler's lipfern ¹⁵
Myriopteris fendleri

Fee's lip fern ¹⁶
Myriopteris gracilis

field horsetail ¹⁷
Equisetum arvense

Smooth Horsetail ¹⁸
Equisetum laevigatum

Variegated Horsetail ¹⁹
Equisetum variegatum variegatum

western scouringrush ²⁰
Equisetum hyemale affine

echo moonwort ²¹
Botrychium echo

western moonwort ²²
Botrychium hesperium

lanceleaf moonwort ²³
Botrychium lanceolatum

Mingan moonwort ²⁴
Botrychium minganense

water clover ²⁵
Marsilea vestita

Brittle bladderfern ²⁶
Cystopteris fragilis

lady fern ²⁷
Athyrium filix-femina

Hairy brackenfern ²⁸
Pteridium aquilinum pubescens

northern spleenwort ²⁹
Asplenium septentrionale

maidenhair spleenwort ³⁰
Asplenium trichomanes trichomanes

Oregon woodsia ³¹
Woodsia oregana

Rocky Mountain woodsia ³²
Woodsia scopulina

Male Fern ¹⁸
Dryopteris filix-mas

Rocky Mountain Polypody ³³
Polypodium saximontanum

Edited by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

Photo Credits

1. (c) Irina Mitjushina, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Irina Mitjushina
2. (c) jerry52, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by jerry52
3. (c) Ken Potter, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Ken Potter
4. (c) Neil Gilham, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Neil Gilham
5. (c) Chloe and Trevor Van Loon, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Chloe and Trevor Van Loon
6. (c) Kerry Woods, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)
7. (c) Todd Ramsden, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Todd Ramsden
8. (c) Martin Rader, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Martin Rader
9. (c) J Brew, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by J Brew
10. (c) Susan Elliott, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Susan Elliott
11. (c) Ed Alverson, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Ed Alverson
12. no rights reserved, uploaded by Craig Martin
13. (c) Torsten Eriksson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Torsten Eriksson
14. (c) Don Loarie, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Don Loarie
15. (c) CK Kelly, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by CK Kelly
16. (c) Stan Shebs, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
17. (c) Frank Mayfield, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
18. (c) Matt Lavin, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
19. (c) Paul Norwood, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Paul Norwood
20. (c) Amadej Trnkoczy, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
21. (c) Juniperus_scopulorum, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
22. (c) Sarah Vinge-Mazer, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Sarah Vinge-Mazer
23. (c) kilasiak, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by kilasiak
24. (c) Hörður Kristinsson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
25. no rights reserved, uploaded by Carrie Brown
26. (c) Jason Hollinger, some rights reserved (CC BY)
27. (c) Andreas Balzer, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
28. (c) Thayne Tuason, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
29. (c) ashley BALSAM baz, some rights reserved (CC BY)
30. (c) Pat Deacon, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Pat Deacon
31. (c) 2009 Keir Morse, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
32. (c) 2006 Steve Matson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
33. (c) Susan Panjabi, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Susan Panjabi

Denver-Boulder Metro Area: Plants

horsetails 1 Equisetum

rough horsetail 2 Equisetum hyemale

common bracken 3 Pteridium aquilinum

western lady fern 4 Athyrium filix-femina cyclosorum

Alpine Lady-fern 5 Athyrium distentifolium

rattlesnake fern 6 Botrypus virginianus

American parsley fern 7 Cryptogramma acrostichoides

northern holly fern 8 Polystichum lonchitis

American Alpine Lady Fern 9 Athyrium distentifolium americanum

northern oak fern 10 Gymnocarpium dryopteris

variegated horsetail 11 Equisetum variegatum

Fendler's false cloak fern 12 Argyrochosma fendleri

black spleenwort 13 Asplenium adiantum-nigrum

Wright's cliffbrake 14 Pellaea wrightiana

Ferriss' horsetail Equisetum × ferrissii

Fendler's lipfern 15 Myriopteris fendleri

Fee's lip fern 16 Myriopteris gracilis

field horsetail 17 Equisetum arvense

Smooth Horsetail 18 Equisetum laevigatum

Variegated Horsetail 19 Equisetum variegatum variegatum

western scouringrush 20 Equisetum hyemale affine

echo moonwort 21 Botrychium echo

western moonwort 22 Botrychium hesperium

lanceleaf moonwort 23 Botrychium lanceolatum

Mingan moonwort 24 Botrychium minganense

water clover 25 Marsilea vestita

Brittle bladderfern 26 Cystopteris fragilis

lady fern 27 Athyrium filix-femina

Hairy brackenfern 28 Pteridium aquilinum pubescens

northern spleenwort 29 Asplenium septentrionale

maidenhair spleenwort 30 Asplenium trichomanes trichomanes

Oregon woodsia 31 Woodsia oregana

Rocky Mountain woodsia 32 Woodsia scopulina

Male Fern 18 Dryopteris filix-mas

Rocky Mountain Polypody 33 Polypodium saximontanum