% 



14 



some direct sunlight in the late 

 afternoon, but are partially to fully 

 shaded during the morning and early 

 afternoon. It is expected that 

 temperature would vary accordingly with 

 changes in light intensity. 



8. Air and water quality requirements: Unknown; 

 it is possible that the taxon may require 

 areas in montane meadows where water quality 

 is not degraded. Such degradation, or other 

 alterations of local hydrology, may have been 

 contributing factors in the extirpation 

 of the taxon from the Lolo Hot Springs 

 vicinity. 



3. Physiographic province: Within the Northern 

 Rocky Mountains Province mapped by Fenneman 

 (1931); within the Rocky Mountain System, 

 Rocky Mountains in Montana and Canada 

 Province, mapped by Hunt (197^). 



4. Physiographic and topographic 

 characteristics: Occurs within the area of 

 the granitic Idaho Batholith, a large region 

 of intrusive igneous rocks which came into 

 place during the early Tertiary Period; this 

 batholith makes up the Bitterroot Range, 

 southwest of Missoula (Perry, 1962). 



Known sites occur at elevations of ^^60-^510 

 ft. This portion of the Bitterroot Range 

 consists of a low series of mountains, with 

 summits in the immediate area ranging from 

 ca. ^880-6500 ft. All sites are associated 

 with four level to very gently sloping meadow 

 openings along Granite Creek; they occur on 

 the eastern edges of these meadows, where 

 the slight aspect is northwest. 



Specifically, the clusters occur at the 

 bases of adjacent steeper, northwest-facing 

 hillsides. Water seepage from the bases of 

 these slopes was noted at the Granite Creek 

 South and Central sites. 



Granite Creek is a tributary of Lolo Creek; 

 the latter, in turn, flows into the 

 Bitterroot River just south of Missoula. 

 The sites are within Hydrologic Unit No. 

 17010205, as mapped by the United States 

 Geological Survey (1980). 



