(July 21) of this search. EOR's and maps for the populations 

 which were found are included in Appendix C. 



C. HABITAT 



This species grows in talus, often where no other plants will 

 grow. The two populations surveyed were on recently glaciated 

 north facing mountain slopes above 9,000 feet elevation. 

 Plants were seen in talus varying from fine and loose to 

 coarse and stable, and also grew in cracks between large 

 rocks, and in poorly developed gravelly clay soils. The 

 slopes of microsites ranged from level to extremely steep. 

 Associated plant species, when they occurred, included 

 Erigeron compositus, Phacelia hastata, Lomatium cous. 

 Astragalus alpinus, Saxifraga bronchialis and Silene acaulis. 

 Slide 4 in Appendix D shows the habitat at the "Glacier Pass" 

 site. 



D. POPULATION BIOLOGY 



The population around Sunlight Lake is extensive. When the 

 occurrence was first discovered by Lackschewitz in 1980 on 

 slopes north of the lake, the species was described as 

 "locally very common." I also found it to be common on slopes 

 south of the lake and estimate there are greater than 10,000 

 aerial stems covering over 100 acres. Unexplored potential 

 habitat is even more extensive in the vicinity and in the 

 Crazies in general. The population on Glacier Pass was not 

 completely surveyed due to strong winds and snow (August 13), 

 but here too there is a huge amount of potential habitat, much 

 of it essentially inaccessible. In middle August of the very 

 cold, wet season, plants were at an early flowering stage at 

 Sunlight Lake, but were still vegetative or in bud at the 

 higher elevation Glacier Pass site. Many plants probably did 

 not produce mature fruit in 1993, because the range was 

 covered with heavy snow by late August. Vegetative 

 reproduction is probably common due to the underground 

 branching habit. Specimens were collected with nearby aerial 

 rosettes connected underground, but the full size of 

 individual plants was not determined. 



E. MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS 



This species occurs in habitats that are inherently well 

 protected and poorly explored. There are extensive areas of 

 potential habitat for the plant in the Crazy Mountains, and it 

 is probably common in the range, as it is in the Beartooth 

 Mountains (Lesica and Shelly 1991) . There is no apparent 

 threat to either of the populations seen. No special Forest 

 Service status is recommended for E. flabellifolius but due to 

 its narrow geographic distribution it should continue to be 

 tracked, as a low priority, by the Montana Natural Heritage 

 Program, in coordination with the Heritage Program in Wyoming. 



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