8 



2. CURRENT SITES: In 1989, field surveys of a 

 portion of the Sawtooth Range in Montana revealed 

 seven new populations of A. molybdenus . This 

 brings the total number of currently documented 

 populations in Montana to eight, all occurring in 

 Teton County. All of the populations occur on 

 lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Lewis 

 and Clark National Forest. Four of the populations 

 occur on the border of the Bob Marshall Wilderness 

 (Our Lake (002), Rocky Mountain-West (004), Rocky 

 Mountain-Northeast (005) , and Route Creek Pass 

 (006)) . 



The legal descriptions, elevations, USGS 

 topographic map names, and locations of sites in 

 Montana are provided in Section VI, pp. 25-33. 

 Also, the exact locations are indicated on the 

 maps provided in Section VI, pp. 34-37. 



3. HISTORICAL SITES: None known. 



4. UNVERIFIED/UNDOCUMENTED REPORTS: None known. 

 D. HABITAT 



1. ASSOCIATED VEGETATION: In Montana, A. molybdenus 

 occurs primarily as a member of alpine forb 

 communities. Populations also occur in the 

 subalpine, but only on very exposed sites, where 

 the microclimate is probably more similar to 

 alpine habitats. Plants were most often observed 

 growing in dense mats of Dryas octopetala . but 

 were also seen spreading in open scree. Plant 

 species that co-occur with A. molybdenus at one or 

 more of the sites include: 



Androsace chamaeiasme sweet-flowered androsace 



Anemone cylindrica candle anemone 



Antennaria aromatica aromatic pussy-toes 



Aquileqia jonesii limestone columbine 



Arctostaphylos uva-ursi . . . kinnikinnick 



Astragalus alpinus alpine milk-vetch 



Astragalus bourgovii Bourgeau ' s milk-vetch 



• Astragalus vexillif lexus . . bent-flowered milk-vetch 



Bupleurum americanum American thorough-wax 



Campanula rotundif olia . . . . lady's thimble 



Cerastium arvense field chickweed 



Claytonia megarhiza alpine springbeauty 



Douglasia montana Rocky Mountain douglasia 



Dryas octopetala white dryas 



Erigeron compositus cut-leaved daisy 



Erigeron lackschewitzii . . . Front Mountain erigeron 



