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Parry's Mountain Rabbitbrush - Ericameria parryi var. montana
Other Names:
Chrysothamnus parryi ssp. montanus
State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
DRAFT: Requesting feedback on the 2026 revised rank, factors, and State Rank Reason outlined below and in the Conservation Status Rank Report.
Ericameria parryi var. montana is known from only one population rangewide along the Montana-Idaho border. The species does not appear to be threatened, and it has likely been relatively stable due to the remote, alpine nature of its habitat. However, climate change impacts could adversely impact the population in the future. Overall, it's extreme rarity makes it highly vulnerable to extirpation in the state. The only data available for the population is over 3 decades old.
Current data on population levels and extent for the single occurrence are needed. Surveys of potentially suitable habitat in the area of the known occurrence are also needed to verify if other occurrences exist.
General Description
Chrysothamnus parryi ssp. montanus is a low growing, branching shrub with stems mostly covered by compacted, feltlike hairs (not always easy to see). It has linear leaves 0.5-1.5 inches long that are somewhat sticky to the touch. The inflorescence has one or a few heads and is overtopped by the uppermost stem leaves. Each head is about 0.5 inch long and usually contains 8-10 yellow disk flowers, but no ray flowers. The bracts forming the base of each head are lance-shaped with hairs spaced along the margins and long, pointed green tips. They overlay each other like shingles on a roof. The seeds have numerous long, thin, stiff hairs at the top.
Phenology
Flowering occurs in August - September.
Diagnostic Characteristics
Chrysothamnus parryi ssp. montanus is a low shrub with white stems, linear, glabrous leaves, the inflorescence overtopped by the uppermost leaves, and involucral bracts aligned in vertical ranks. This set of morphological characters combined with its high-elevation habitat distinguishes it from other similar species.
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
Ericameria parryi ssp. montanus is a narrow endemic known only from the Red Conglomerate Peaks area, near the Continental Divide, in the southern Beaverhead Range of Idaho and adjacent Montana. Its global distribution extends over an area approximately four miles wide by two miles wide. The four known occurrences are more or less evenly distributed across this limited range (Mancuso and Moseley 1990).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 1
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Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Sparsely-vegetated, subalpine grasslands and slopes usually on calcareous, gravelly to rocky soils.
National Vegetation Classification System Groups Associated with this Species
Alpine
Alpine - Sparse and Barren
Alpine - Vegetated
Grassland
Montane - Subalpine Grassland
Ecology
POLLINATORS The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap:
Bombus bifarius,
Bombus centralis,
Bombus huntii, and
Bombus melanopygus (Williams et al. 2014).
Stewardship Responsibility
Threats or Limiting Factors
STATE THREAT SCORE REASON
Threat impact not assigned because threats are not known (MTNHP Threat Assessment 2021).
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
MTNHP Threat Assessment. 2021. State Threat Score Assignment and Assessment of Reported Threats from 2006 to 2021 for State-listed Vascular Plants. Botany Program, Montana Natural Heritage Program, Helena, Montana.- Williams, P., R. Thorp, L. Richardson, and S. Colla. 2014. Bumble Bees of North America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 208 p.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Anderson, L. C. 1978. New taxa in Chrysothamnus, section Nauseosi (Asteraceae). Phytologia 38(4): 309-320.
- Anderson, L. C. 1986. An overview of the genus Chrysothamnus (Asteraceae). Pages 29-45 in E. D. McArthur and B. L. Welch, compilers, Proceedings- Symposium on the Biology of Artemisia and Chrysothamnus. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report INT-200. Intermountain Research Station, Ogden, UT.
- Lesica, P. 1992. Conservation status of Chrysothamnus parryi ssp. montanus on Beaverhead National Forest, Montana. Montana Natural Heritage Program, Helena. 21 pp.
- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
- Mancuso, M. and R.K. Moseley. 1990. Field investigation of Chrysothamnus parryi ssp. montanus: a Region 4 sensitive species on the Targhee National Forest. Boise, ID: Idaho Department of Fish and Game. 11 p. + appendices.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Idaho and Wyoming endangered and sensitive plant field guide. [n.d.]. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Region. 192 p.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Idaho and Wyoming endangered and sensitive plant field guide. [n.d]. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Region. Pp:86-87.
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