Rare Red Rock sunflower at high risk of extinction, petition argues

Alan Halaly, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Feb 11, 2026

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LAS VEGAS — About 3 million people visit Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas every year, but few have noticed the tiny yellow sunflower that has called it home for centuries. It may face extinction without federal protection, two groups say.

On Tuesday, the Center for Biological Diversity and Save Red Rock filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asking it consider listing the rare sunflower under the Endangered Species Act.

The three springs the flower grows near are in one of the most highly visited sections of the conservation area: Calico Basin. Fewer than 1,000 flowers remain in the wild, according to population counts referenced in Tuesday’s petition.

“These charmingly lopsided sunflowers are already incredibly rare, and without federal protection they could vanish from the face of the Earth,” said Megan Ortiz, a staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. “It’s lucky that the Red Rock sunflower grows on public lands safe from development, but they’re not protected from visitors.”

According to iNaturalist, a citizen science app that helps people identify and log species, a researcher discovered the flower in 2007 while conducting biological surveys. A UNLV botanist couldn’t identify it when the researcher brought it to him, and Edward Schilling at the University of Tennessee first suggested that it could be a new discovery.

In 2024, the Nevada Division of Forestry listed the flower to have protections under the state, but the petition argues that those are not enough to help the species evade extinction. Fences are a first step that the petition suggests.

‘An army of advocates’

Only a little more than half of the land the sunflower inhabits belongs to the Bureau of Land Management, and the remaining acreage is privately owned within the conservation area.

The highly visited Calico Basin area is known for having unofficial hiking trails through the sunflower’s habitat; heavy footsteps can compact soil and hinder seedling growth. Wild horses and visitors have brought invasive plant species to the habitat area, as well, according to the petition.

Because the species depends on groundwater, the petition points to climate change-fueled drought as a perilous factor affecting the decline of the species.

“We need fast action to make sure this beautiful species doesn’t disappear on our watch,” Ortiz said.

Michelle St. Angelo, Save Red Rock’s executive director, praised the submission of the petition in a statement.

Save Red Rock is an official conservation partner of the BLM, the federal agency tasked with operating the conservation area. The nonprofit has most recently been involved in working with Clark County on the Red Rock Legacy Trail, a project that will create a safer byway along Charleston Boulevard for both cyclists and pedestrians.

“This endemic species, rare and delicate as it is, needs an army of advocates and stewards to ensure its long-term survival,” St. Angelo said.

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