2. Montana distribution: Anaconda, Pioneer, and Crazy 

 Mountains (Lesica and Shelly 1991) . 



3. Occurrences on the Gallatin National Forest: A 1945 

 Hitchcock and Muhlick collection (13275), labeled S. 

 cascadensis, from the Crazy Mountains is deposited at the 

 herbarium at the University of Washington (WTU) . The location 

 is described on the label as "near outlet of Granite Lake." 

 The vicinity of Granite Lake was searched but the habitat 

 type, subalpine forest with a dry understory, is not 

 appropriate for S. cascadensis . More likely habitat for 

 alpine willows would be above timberline further upstream. 

 Salix arctica was found to be common in the alpine in the 

 Crazies but S. cascadensis was not seen. The 1945 collection 

 was taken on loan from WTU. This specimen is problematical, 

 having leaves which are relatively narrow but glaucous beneath 

 and not persisting, thus combining characters of S. arctica 

 and S. cascadensis . Although C. R. Ball annotated the 

 specimen as S. cascadensis, my impression is that it is Salix 

 arctica with unusually narrow leaves. Material apparently 

 separated from this collection was found at Intermountain 

 Herbarium (INT) in Logan, Utah. This specimen (Hitchcock and 

 Muhlick 13275b) is labeled S. petrophylla (a synonym of S. 

 arctica) and was also annotated by Ball; it has wide leaves 

 typical of S. arctica. 1 also examined other alpine willows 

 collected by Hitchcock and Muhlick (12962 at INT and 13098 at 

 WTU) from the Pioneer Mountains in Montana, also annotated by 

 Ball as S. cascadensis . These are clearly S. arctica (12962 

 was annotated as such by G. W. Argus in 1991), with relatively 

 broad leaves which are glaucous beneath. Thus Ball's 

 circumscription of S. cascadensis seems rather broad compared 

 to modern treatments (e. g. Dorn 1992). The occurrence of S. 

 cascadensis in the Crazies cannot, however, be entirely 

 dismissed. 



C. MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS 



If Salix cascadensis occurs in the Crazy Mountains, it is 

 uncommon. If the Hitchcock and Muhlick collection is verified 

 as S. cascadensis , then continued search for this element is 

 justified. Some alpine and sub-alpine habitats in the Crazies 

 are heavily impacted by cattle grazing and recreation, thus 

 any species which is extremely rare and occupies accessible 

 habitat is potentially threatened. Alpine willows are 

 relatively sturdy plants but specimens of S. cascadensis are 

 generally smaller than other species. Other reports of S. 

 cascadensis in Montana should also be investigated by MTHP; 

 occurrences in the Pioneer Mountains may be based on the 

 specimens at INT annotated by Ball. This species is uncommon 

 in Montana, perhaps more so than reports suggest, and should 

 continue to be tracked by the state. Annotation of specimens 

 by a willow scholar (Dorn and/or Argus) is needed to help 

 clarify the species' distribution in the state. 



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