52 



o 



roadsides, grazed pastures, cultivated pine 

 plantations, forest openings, river terraces, and 

 native grasslands. The species is broadly 

 confined to a transitional area between lower 

 elevation Festuca scabre 11a grasslands and the 

 intermixed lower forest zone; common associates in 

 the latter include P i nus ponderosa , Pseudo tsuqa 

 menz i esi i , and Lar i x occ iden ta lis . Populations 

 are often associated with swales and slight 

 depressions, or occur along compacted road 

 margins, where the soil environment is likely t 

 be slightly more mesic, especially in the spring 

 and early summer. Soils are most often of 

 a gravelly loam or loam texture. The species 

 occurs in an elevational range of 2500-^880 feet. 

 Habitat slides are included on p. 7. 



B. Physical characteristics. 



1 . CI imate. 



a. Koppen climate classification: Type 

 Df b , with average January temperature 

 below 0°C ( 3 2 ° F ) , average temperature of 

 warmest month above 10°C (50°F) and 

 under 22°C (71 .6°F) , with no dry season, 

 and the driest month of summer receives 

 more than 3 cm (1.2 in.) of rain 



( Visher , 195^4 ) . 



b. Regional macroc 1 imate : Two principal 

 c 1 i ma to 1 og i ca 1 stations are located 

 within the range of Gr i nde 1 i a how el 1 i i 

 in Montana: Ovando and Seeley Lake 

 Ranger Station. Data for the period 

 19M-1970 are provided by the U.S. 

 Department of Commerce ( 1973) . At 

 Ovando, the mean annual precipitation 

 was 16. ^»3 inches? the mean annual 

 temperature was 39.2°F, and the mean 

 July temperature was 61.3°F. At Seeley 

 Lake Ranger Station, the mean annual 

 precipitation was 22.28 inches; the 

 mean annual temperature was <1 tl.0 o F, and 

 the mean July temperature was 62.3°F. 



c. Local microclimate: No quantitative 

 information available. Gr i nde 1 i a 

 howe 1 1 i i is most frequent in areas 

 which receive full solar insolation for 

 most of the day, and diurnal fluctuation 

 in temperature is thus expected to be 

 greater than the average. 



S. Air and water quality requirements: Unknown. 



