Montana Field Guide

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Montana Field Guides

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- Kingdom - Plants - Plantae
  - Division - Flowering Plants - Anthophyta
    - Class - Dicots - Dicotyledoneae
      - Order - Heaths / Wintergreens / Monotropes - Ericales
        
        Family - Heath Family - Ericaceae
        
        Species - Arctic Bell-heather - Cassiope tetragona

Arctic Bell-heather - Cassiope tetragona

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Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S4
C-value: 7

Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:

External Links

General Description

Very similar to C. mertensiana in most respects. Leaves 3–5 mm long with a prominent medial groove on their dorsal surface, widening toward the base dividing it into 2 small, ear-like lobes; leaf margin and groove copiously, finely ciliate (Stickney in Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Our plants are subspecies saximontana (Small) C.L.Hitchc.

Species Range

Montana Range Range Descriptions

Native

Range Comments

Circumboreal south to WA, MT and QC (Stickney in Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database

Number of Observations: 4

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions

Relative Density

Recency

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)

Habitat

Stony turf, talus; subalpine, alpine (Stickney in Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Stewardship Responsibility

References

Literature Cited AboveLegend: View Online Publication
- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?
- 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.
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Dragonflies / Damselflies

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Citation for data on this website:
Arctic Bell-heather — Cassiope tetragona. Montana Field Guide. Montana Natural Heritage Program. Retrieved on July 9, 2025, from https://FieldGuide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=PDERI07050