which grows in soil derived from limestone, had a high 

 proportion of aborted flowers and almost no mature fruit, 

 while a smaller subpopulation downhill on a different 

 soil type had a high percentage of large plants with 

 mature fruit. However, many of these large fruiting 

 plants were partially browsed, probably by cattle, which 

 were present at the site at the survey date. Astragalus 

 scaphoides flowers in June and produces fruit from June- 

 July. 



F. MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS 



Astragalus scaphoides has one of the narrowest global 

 distributions of plant species in Montana. The species is 

 locally plentiful in Idaho (Barneby 1964, Lesica and Elliott 

 1987) but is uncommon in Montana. Although new populations 

 were discovered in the state in 1994 (this report and 

 Vanderhorst 1995), most of these were small or otherwise in 

 poor shape. Only three of the currently known populations in 

 the state are large and prolific. With the discovery of the 

 sDecies on the Beaverhead National Forest, designation of the 

 species as Sensitive by Region 1 of the U.S. Forest Service is 

 now appropriate. 



The major threat to Astragalus scaphoides in Montana is cattle 

 qrazinq. Heavy spring grazing has been shown to damage 

 populations (Lesica and Elliot 1987). Most occurrences on 

 public lands are located within grazing allotments, and most 

 are accessible to cattle. The species has not generally been 

 found in heavily grazed habitat and the larger populations are 

 found in rangeland in excellent condition. Spring grazing of 

 public rangeland with populations of Astragalus scaphoides 

 should be kept to a minimum and preferably, these sites should 

 not be grazed until after seeds have dispersed (late July to 

 August) . 



Carex vallicola Dewey 

 Valley Sedge 



A. DESCRIPTION 



1. General description: Carex vallicola is a clump forming 

 sedge (Cyperaceae) . The thin leaves are borne basally 

 and on the lower culm. The heads consist of several 

 densely clustered spikes which are, however, not easily 

 distinguishable without magnification. The spikes have 

 male flowers above the female flowers, which have two 

 styles. The perigynia (the sacs which contain the 

 fruits) are filled at maturity by the lens shaped 



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