3. LOCAL FIELD CHARACTERS: Lesguerella klausii is 

 primarily distinguished by its broadly obovate 

 (almost spherical but slightly tapered at the 

 base) fruit which is notched at the tip. Also L. 

 klausii is restricted to outcrop settings, most 

 consistently on open chale barrens but also found 

 on limestone and other parent material. The only 

 other Lesguerella species found in the Big Belt 

 Mountains during this study was L. alpina (alpine 

 bladderpod) . This species is distinguished from 

 L. klausii in having generally narrow, entire 

 leaves, generally shorter stems, and less inflated 

 fruits which are often narrowed and flattened at 

 the tip. Physaria didymocarpa (common twinpod) 

 also occurs in the Big Belt Mountains, and is 

 distinct from L. klausii in having much larger 

 leaves and flowers, and very large inflated fruits 

 (adapted from Shelly 1988). 



D. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 



RANGE: Lesguerella klausii 

 It occurs in 

 Meagher and 

 Lewis & Clark 

 Counties in 

 western Montana 

 (Figure 16) . In 

 addition, one of 

 the newly 

 documented 

 populations 

 occurrs on both 

 sides of the 

 Broadwater-Meagher 

 county lines. 



is endemic to Montana. 



2. CURRENT SITES: There are presently 3 4 known sites 



for Lesguerella klausii . Twenty-one of these 

 sites are within the Big Belt Mountains of the 

 Helena National Forest. Only a few of the 

 previously known localities were briefly revisited 

 (however EORs and topographic maps are provided 

 for all localities in the Big Belt Mountains in 

 Appendix 5) . Four new sites were found, and more 

 detailed population and locational information can 

 be found in Appendix 5. 



3. UNVERIFIED/UNDOCUMENTED REPORTS: None known. 



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