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Lesquerellapulc/tella Rollins 

 BEAUTIFUL BLADDERPOD 

 Mustard Family (Brassicaceae) 



CONSERVATION STATUS 



U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: None. 



Bureau of Land Management: Proposed sensitive in the draft list that was circulated in 

 1995. 



Montana Natural Heritage Program rank: G2 82. 



DESCRIPTION: Beautiful bladderpod is a herbaceous perennial with unbranched, prostrate to 

 ascending stems arising from a branched rootcrown and taproot. The basal leaves have short 

 petioles and elliptic, entire-margined blades. The alternate stem leaves are smaller and lack 

 petioles. Foliage is covered with dense, silvery, branched hairs. Yellow, stalked flowers are 

 borne at the top of the stems in a narrow inflorescence that elongates as the fruit matures. Each 

 flower has 4 separate petals, 4 separate sepals, and 4 long and 2 short stamens. The flattened, 

 broadly elliptic capsules (silicles) have a keel on each face (from Rollins 1995; Figure 16; 

 Appendix D-12). Flowering is between late May to mid June in normal years for the foothills 

 settings; in early June to early July in nonnal years for the subalpine settings. Within the study 

 area, a second flowering has been observed in mid- to late August during a growing season that 

 was early and droughty (Heidel 1993). 



It is one of several endemic Lesquerella species in Montana, which occupy similar kinds of 

 habitat and require mature fruits for identification. Until recent taxonomic research (Rollins 

 1995), it was provisionally treated as Lesquerella carinata based on personal communications 

 with Rollins (Schassberger 1991, Heidel 1993). The flattened, unlobed, keeled silicles separate 

 this plant from species ofPhysaria and Lesquerella in our area, except L. carinata var. languida 

 which has narrowly elliptic fruits. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 



Global distribution: Endemic to southwestern Montana 



Montana distribution: This species is known only from Beaverhead County, from nine 

 occurrences in the Pioneer Mountains area and one in the Centermial Mountains (Figure 

 17). This is a correction to its reported distribution in Heidel (1993) which mistakenly 

 ascribed a specimen of I. paysonii from Deerlodge County to it. 



Grasshopper distribution: Known from five occurrences along the western edge of the 

 study area, representing half of the kno\NTi occurrences for this species throughout its 

 rangewide. All five are wholly or partly on ELM lands (Figure 17). 



