Growing on the foothills throughout the western 

 part of the state, Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheat- 

 grass, Junegrass, and Indian ricegrass*, are mixed 

 with several species of sagebrush. The soils in these 

 places are mostly sandy; along the streams they are 

 mixed with dark, rich soils deposited by water. 



Timberline Bluegrass 



Indian Ricegrass 



On the towering Beartooth-Absaroka plateau 

 north of Yellowstone Park, alpine grasses are the 

 chief vegetation on the shallow, rocky soils. Alpine 

 timothy and timberline bluegrass*, and Ross bent 

 grass, together with forbs such as lupine and 

 paintbrush, are able to thrive in spite of the short 

 growing season at these high altitudes. 



The rolling landscape of Montana's central plains 

 is interrupted by several widely separated small 

 mountain ranges where lodgepole pine, Engelmann 

 spruce, and Douglas fir predominate. In these 

 forests, at altitudes of from 5,000 to 8,000 feet, elk 

 sedge, pine reedgrass, and Idaho fescue* grow in the 

 soils that range from sandy loams to heavy clays. 



Idaho Fescue 



The western glaciated plains (that is, those once 

 covered by glaciers), have richer soils than those 

 farther south. Most of the land is planted to wheat, 

 so there are few native grasses in these north central 

 areas. Among them are blue grama, western wheat- 

 grass, and threadleaf and needleleaf sedges. The 

 sweetgrass* that grows on Montana's central plains 

 was used by Indians as a ceremonial incense. 



