Koeleria macrantha (prairie junegrass) 



Linum perenne (blue flax) 



Lomatium cous (Cous biscuit-root) 



Lupinus argenteus (silvery lupine) 



Luzula campestris (field woodrush) 



Microseris nigrescens (black-hairy microseris) 



Pedicularis contorta (coiled-beak lousewort) 



Penstemon procerus (small-flowered penstemon) 



Penstemon rydberqii (Rydberg's penstemon) 



Poa secunda (Sandberg's bluegrass) 



Potentilla diversifolia (diverse-leaved cinquefoil) 



Potentilla gracilis (slender cinquefoil) 



Potentilla palustris (purple cinquefoil) 



Rosa woodsii (woods rose) 



Sedum lanceolatum (lance-leaved stonecrop) 



Senecio integerrimus (western groundsel) 



Senecio streptanthifolius (Rocky Mountain butterweed) 



Senecio triangularis (arrowleaf groundsel) 



Solidago multiradiata (northern goldenrod) 



Spiranthes romanzof f iana (hooded ladies-tresses) 



Stipa viridula (green needlegrass) 



Thlaspi arvense (field pennycress) 



Trifolium repens (white clover) 



Vaccinium caespitosum (dwarf huckleberry) 



Zigadenus elegans (glaucous zigadenus) 



2. TOPOGRAPHY: Cirsium longistvlum occurs predominantly 

 at altitudes of 5200-7500 ft (1665-2400 m) , with the 

 lowest recorded location at 4 680 ft (1475 m) and the 

 highest recorded location at 8040 ft (2575 m) . 



3. SOIL RELATIONSHIPS: The soils under Cirsium 

 longistylum populations in central Montana are 

 developed in parent materials derived from a wide 

 variety of geologic sources. These include hard, 

 coarse-grained metamorphics of Precambrian age, 

 Paleozoic limestones, dolomites and shales, and 

 intrusive igneous rocks (Veseth and Montagne 1980, Weed 

 1900) . Site-specific soil information for the sites is 

 not available, but general information indicates that 

 Cryochrepts, Cryoboralfs, and Lithic Cryoborolls are 

 most likely (Montagne et al. 1982). 



4. REGIONAL CLIMATE: The regional climate of central 

 Montana is characterized by hot, dry summers and cold, 

 snowy winters. The precipitation peak in central 

 Montana is generally in May and June, and comes in the 

 form of wet snow and rain (U.S. Department of Commerce 

 1982) . 



The climatic station closest to the central Montana 

 sites is at Stanford, which at 4710 feet (1413 m) , is 



