20 



forming plants such as Howard's forget-me-not ( Eritrichium 

 howardii ) t stemless goldenweed ( Haplopappus acaulis )> 

 SweetHater milkvetch ( Astragalus aretioides ) > rockmat 

 ( Petrophyton caespitosum ) , fragrant pussy-toes ( Antennaria 

 aromatica ) > and kelseya ( Kelseya uniflora ). 



Regional vegetation types: For Montana* Ross and Hunter 

 (1976) place the Pryor Mountain sites in the Douglas Fir 

 Climax Forest Zone* and the Beartooth Mountain site in the 

 Clayey and Shallow Clay Range Sites with bluebunch 

 wheatgrassf Columbia needlegrass* and western and thick- 

 spike wheatgrass (etc.) Zone. Kuchler (196^) places both 

 the Pryor Mountain sites and the Beartooth Mountain site in 

 the Douglas Fir Forest Zone. The forests which compose the 

 zonal vegetation are best described as belonging to the 

 Pseudotsuqa menziesii/Physocarpus malvaceus habitat type, 

 possibly intergrading into the Pinus f lexil is/ Juniperus 

 communis habitat type (Pfister et al. 1977). 



Frequently associated species: All of the species 

 frequently associated with Shoshonea pulvinata in Montana 

 are natives. These include: 



Pinus f lexilis James 

 Pseudotsuqa menziesii (Mirb.) Franco 

 Potent! 11a fruticosa L. 

 Petrophyton caespitosum (Nutt.) Rydb. 

 Eritrichium howardii (Gray) Rydb. 

 Eriqeron ochroleucus Nutt. 

 Astraqalus aretioides (Jones) Barneby 

 Astragalus miser Douglas 

 Haplopappus acaulis (Nutt.) Gray 

 Carex rupestris Allioni 

 Hesperochloa kinqii (Wats.) Rydb. 

 Drab a oliqosperma Hooker 

 Eriqeron compositus Pursh 

 Potentilla diversifolia Lehm. 

 Senecio canus Hooker 

 Phlox hoodii Richards. 

 Antennaria aromatica Evert 

 Anemone nuttalliana DC. 



Dominance and frequency of the taxon: In the Pryor 

 Mountains, Shoshonea pulvinata occurs in colonies of 

 approximately 100-1,500 plants, in narrow belts of habitat 

 on the rims above canyons. Although canopy cover of this 

 species rarely exceeds 5-10X, total vegetation cover is 

 low, and Shoshonea is often one of the dominant herbaceous 

 species. In the Beartooth Mountains, Shoshonea occurs on 

 relatively broad ridgetops, in colonies of 1,000-5,000 

 plants. Again, although its canopy cover is usually less 

 than 10X, it can be one of the dominant herbaceous species, 

 as it is on the ridge north of the North Fork of Grove 

 Creek . 



