12 



the populations studied (Montana, V^Jyoming, 

 and Colorado) . At all of the A. shultziorum 

 sites, flowering and fruiting plants occur 

 only in small localized areas within 

 populations. It is possible that 

 "populations" of plants at given sites are 

 really collections of clones representing a 

 single or a few genotypes that have colonized 

 the area through vegetative propagation 

 (Marriott 1990) . 



b. POLLINATION BIOLOGY: Unknown. 



c. SEED DISPERSAL AND BIOLOGY: Fruits contain 

 approximately 7-9 ovules. Mature fruits 

 appear to drop from the plant before the 

 sutures open. Although most fruits probably 

 remain in the vicinity of the parent plant, 

 the submembranous pods could be easily 

 transported by the high winds that 

 characterize alpine habitats. 



F. TAXONOMIC STUDIES 



Three methods were used to examine the taxonomic 

 relationships between A. molybdenus (Montana and 

 Colorado) and A. shultziorum (Wyoming) : 

 morphological comparisons, analysis of chloroplast 

 DNA (cpDNA) fragmentation data (conducted by Dr. 

 Matt Lavin, Montana State University) , and 

 electrophoretic analysis of enzyme variation 

 (conducted by Dr. Greg Brown, University of 

 Wyoming) . The results of each of these studies 

 are summarized below, followed by a brief 

 discussion of their implications. 



a. MORPHOLOGICAL COMPARISONS: Specimens from 

 populations in all three states were 

 submitted to various herbaria, including 

 Montana State University (MONT) , New York 

 Botanical Garden (NY) , and the Rocky Mountain 

 Herbarium, University of Wyoming (RM) . Dr. 

 Matt Lavin, Montana State University, 

 summarized the morphological characteristics 

 of plants from a limited number of herbarium 

 sheets from each state; these are presented 

 in Table 1, p. 13. The populations from 

 Montana and Wyoming show similarities with 

 respect to number of leaflets per leaf, 

 number of flowers per raceme, the nature of 

 the pod beak, and number of ovules per fruit. 

 With respect to seed size and flower 



