plant. For more detailed information concerning each site, refer 

 to Appendix 1. 



A total of 3355 acres were surveyed, Allotropa virqata was found 

 on 205 acres, or slightly over 6% of the area surveyed. However 

 of the acreage where A. virqata was not found, the species may 

 occur there. As has been previously mentioned. A, virqata does 

 not surface every year. Thus areas surveyed with negative 

 results may require an additional survey before actions are 

 undertaken which could harm the species. See Appendix 2 for 

 areas which were surveyed with negative results. 



DISCUSSION 



Although Allotropa virqata often occurs in harsh, low 

 productivity sites, these sites still provide stands of 

 harvestable timber. Removal of canopy trees upon which A. 

 virqata depends through its mycorrhizal fungal associate for 

 survival, extirpates A. virqata from that site. The same is true 

 of a stand-destroying fire. Although a few trees may be 

 selectively removed from a stand (such as the aforementioned 

 thinning on the Beaverhead National Forest) without apparent 

 impact on the population, the exact number of trees which may be 

 extracted is not known. 



Due to Allotropa virqata ' s more or less biennial flowering 

 schedule and its rhizomatous root system with perennating buds, 

 the above ground stems may be few or none in number. Although 

 this may permit the plant to partition energy resources to 

 vegetative reproduction one year and sexual the next as well as 

 allow the plant to escape ground fires, it does not help field 

 staff in determining whether or not the plant is present at a 

 particular site. 



CONCLUSION 



Allotropa virqata should continue to be categorized as Sensitive 

 by the U.S. Forest Service in Regions 1 and 4. Although the 

 plant is now known from many localities in Montana and Idaho, the 

 total area covered by this disjunct group of populations is still 

 rather small. It is possible also that this disjunct group 

 represents a different genotype as compared to those plants in 

 the main part of the range. The Montana Natural Heritage Program 

 will rerank this species as G4S2S3. This intermediate rank 

 represents the high population numbers (S3 - found locally in a 

 restricted range) , but is moderated by the threat of timber 

 harvest to these populations (S2 - vulnerable to extinction 

 within the state due to threat) . 



