SUMMARY 



American watenvort is an extremely small plant which is likely to have been overlooked. It is 

 widely distributed in Montana, and there is no evidence to suggest that it is sensitive to 

 disturbance. For these reasons it is being taken off of the Montana Plant Species of Special 

 Concern list and being put onto the watch list. 



Evax prolifera Nutt, ex DC. 



RABBIT-TOBACCO 



Asteraceae 



PRESENT LEGAL OR OTHER FORMAL STATUS 



L FEDERAL STATUS 



a. U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: None. 



b. U.S. FOREST SERVICE: None. 



2. STATE: This species was not previously known from Montana until this 



study. Its global rank is G5. Because it occupies natural habitat in Montana, it 

 will be added to the State List of Species of Special Concern, and its SRANK 

 will be assigned as "SU" (status unknown). 



DESCRIPTION 



L GENERAL NONTECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Small, herbaceous, 



woolly annual usually under 10 cm tall. The illustration in Figure 18 shows a 

 far more robust plant than any seen in the study area (Figure 19). Leaves 

 alternate, narrowly spatulate, at most 6 mm long. Heads clustered, 

 inconspicuous, surpassed by uppermost leaves. No ray flowers. Florets 

 inconspicuous, intermixed with small, thin, pale bracts, pappus none. 



2. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Gray floccose-woolly annuals with slender 



taproots. Stems erect, 2-10(15) cm tall, simple or branching from base. 

 Rosette leaves 3-6 mm long, usually spatulate, soon disappearing. Cauline 

 leaves alternate, narrowly oblanceolate to spatulate, 3-15 mm long, 1 -nerved, 

 entire. Heads in vei-y dense woolly glomerules terminating stems and 

 branches. Glomerules subtended by leaves 6-12 mm long, and with internal 

 leaves whose tips protrude from between the heads. True involucre absent, the 

 apparent bracts being chaff of the receptacle. Receptacle slightly raised to 

 somewhat conical, chaffy nearly throughout with thin paleae that are 



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