© fireflyforest.com
Palmer's penstemon is native to desert mountains from eastern Mojave to Utah and in New Mexico.
Two men have plead guilty to trying to steal 600 pounds of wildflower seed pods in Utah's Zion National Park. Their goal? Selling them for profit in the commercial market.
Cresencio Martinez-Guzman, 44, and Cresencio Lucena-Alvarez, 23, plead guilty to felony theft of government property and were sentenced to probation on December 7. They also admitted being in the United States illegally and will not fight deportation.
Court records stated that the men spent weeks in a remote portion of the park pinching Palmer's penstemon, a tall-growing native plant whose seeds are often used for reseeding projects. Commercial seed collecting is legal on other federal lands with a permit but not in Zion.