dqx)sited at various herbaria including:: the Forest Service heibarium at Fortine, ALTA, COLO, MO, and 

 MONTU. Survey forms for Montana Plant Species of Special Concern were filled out for taxa cuircntly 

 recognized or proposed for recognition as species of special concern. Data processing is in progress. 



RESULTS 



The Kootenai National Forest (KNF) has diverse forest and wetland communities that provide habitat for 202 

 known taxa of mosses, including new additions to the state flora and species of special concern The moist, cool 

 Pacific maritime climate, variability of geological paient material, and variation in precipitation due to localized " 

 rain shadows" are fectors contributing to diversity of botli bryophytes and vascular plants. Some mosses with 

 floristic affinities with the Pacific coastal region reach their eastern-most distributions in tlie KNF. Vitt et al (1 988) 

 show numerous br}'ophytes and lichens witli Pacific coastal centers of distribution, extmding inland to northwestern 

 Montana The maritime influence on Montana plant distiibution has been discussed by McCune (1 984). 



The preliminaiy list of mosses is presented in j^pendix A. New records for Montana are: 



Hypmmi callichvwn: Soil over Rock, along Highway 2 Trail, south of Kootenai Falls (Elliott 2891) 

 (verification pending). 



Leucokpis acantJionewon: Riparian cedar^iemlock forest near Cedar Creek Trailhead, four miles west of 

 Libby; (Anderegg and SpribiUe 5020, Spribille and Elliott 3004). 



Racomitriwn brevipes: Thinly scattei'ed o\'er wind-swept subalpine knoll; Whitefidi Range, north of 

 Divide Creek and east of Mount Warn (Spribille 4126A). 



Racomitriwn prygniaewn: Tliinly scattered over wind-swept subalpine knoll; Whitefisli Range, north of 

 Divide Creek and east of Mount Wam (Spribille 4127). 



Sphagnum lindbergii: Purcell Fen at head of Drip Creek, Big Creek watershed (Spribille 575 1 , 5754, 

 5753 and 5740). (Verification pending confirmation by D. Vitt) 



Sphaginon Midfianwn: Hummocks in West Basin Fen, Purcell Mountains; circumboreal in North 

 America; appears to be the only record in the western United States (Arvidson 43 1 ). 



Splaclmum sphaericum: Cattle dung in spruce swamp along Brown's Cieek in Salish Mountains 

 (SpribiUe 5625). 



^lachnan vasculoswn: Spribille collection (pending confirmation by D. Vitt) 



