11 



Hay Canyon (007) 



Population size: ca . 800-1000 plants. 

 Population condition: good condition, many 

 plants in disturbed roadside berms . 

 Acreage covered by population: ca. 40. 

 Last observation date: 1991 



South Fork Judith River (008) 



Population size: ca . 10-15 plants. 

 Population condition: good, could be easily 

 disturbed by roadside activities. 

 Acreage covered by population: 1 

 Last observation date: 1991 



South Fork Judith River (009) 



Population size: ca . 25 plants. 



Population condition: several plants show 



characteristics intermediate to A. brevistyla 



and A^ f lavescens . 



Acreage covered by population: 1 



Last observation date: 1991 



Smith Creek (010) 



Population size: ca . 2 plants, more survey 

 needs to be completed in this drainage. 

 Population condition: unknown. 

 Acreage covered by population: 1 

 Last observation date: 1991 



REPRODUCTION AND TAXONOMY 



Most members of the genus Aquilegia are 

 outcrossers and are known to easily hybridize. 

 For 56 out of 58 taxa in the genus Aquilegia , 

 2n=14 (Dawe and Murray 1981) . Dawe and Murray 

 (1981) report 2n=16 for A. brevistyla . If A. 

 brevistyla is an aneuploid, it is less likely that 

 it would produce fertile hybrids. However, 

 collections made in the Little Belt Mountains by 

 this author during the 1991 field season are 

 problematic, and Munz (1946) reports putative 

 hybridization between A. brevistyla and A. 

 f lavescens in Alberta, Canada. 



At Dry Pole (001) , initial collections and 

 photographs were taken of a small cluster of A. 

 brevistyla . Upon continuing up the canyon, 

 Aquilegia plants with long blue spurs and sepals 

 were observed in shaded locations, but completely 

 yellow Aquilegias were observed in more open 

 locations. Further exploration up the canyon 

 yielded observations of only A. f lavescens . 



