GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 



50 



1. RANGE: Few-flowered goldenrod is a Great Plains species 

 ranging from Montana to Arizona, and east to Texas, Oklahoma 

 and the Black Hills of South Dakota. In Montana it is only 

 known from Stillwater and Garfield counties. 



2. CURRENT SITES: The two Montana collections are relatively 

 recent . 



3. HISTORICAL SITES: None. 



4. UNVERIFIED/UNDOCUMENTED REPORTS: None. It may be 

 appropriate to review at least specimens of S. canadensis 

 and S. mollis in Montana herbaria, with which it is more 

 readily confused. 



5. AREAS SURVEYED BUT SPECIES NOT LOCATED: Suitable habitat 

 with woodland edge was surveyed although it is very 

 restricted along the northern end of Garfield County and 

 northwestern McCone County. The S. . . were blooming in 

 northwestern McCone County during the last period of 

 fieldv;ork, but revisits were not made to northern Garfield 

 County (e.g.. Seven Blackfoot Creek, Squaw Creek, Lodge Pole 

 Creek) during this time so it is possible it may have been 

 missed . 



HABITAT 



1. ASSOCIATED VEGETATION: Across its range, it is found in a 

 variety of semi-open settings including open woods, woodland 

 margins, and rocky slopes (Great Plains Flora Association 

 1986) . 



2. TOPOGRAPHY: It is found in unglaciated broken and rolling 

 plains in settings that are well-drained, apparently in a 

 variety of topographic positions (from Great Plains Flora 

 Association 1986) . The Garfield County specimen was 

 collected near the edge of a cultivated field which appears 

 from the topographic map to be at the head of a woody draw. 



3. SOIL RELATIONSHIPS: Across its range, soils are typically 

 sandy (Great Plains Flora Association 1986) , but the 

 droughty character of the soils may be partly ameliorated by 

 the moisture-collecting aspects of its microhabitat , 

 including tree cover and rocky slopes. 



4. CLIMATE FACTORS: The dry, continental climate in which this 

 species grows is moderated at least in part by tree cover 

 and/or moisture-accumulating fractures in sandstone bedrock)^ 

 Similar species of this genus have very deep taproots. 



