Montana Field Guide

Stems erect, 10–40 cm from a branched caudex. Herbage glabrous to puberulent. Leaves: basal erect, linear-oblanceolate, 4–15 cm long; cauline shorter, linear. Inflorescence a compound raceme of several whorls, each subtended by opposite, linear bracts. Flowers white to light purple; sepals 4–6 mm long; corolla lobes ovate, 6–8 mm long, each with 1 gland at the base. Capsule ellipsoid, 10–15 mm long (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Montana plants are variety albicaulis.

Meadows, sagebrush steppe; valleys to subalpine (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

POLLINATORS
The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap: Bombus appositus, Bombus bifarius, Bombus centralis, Bombus fervidus, Bombus flavifrons, Bombus frigidus, Bombus nevadensis, Bombus rufocinctus, Bombus sylvicola, Bombus occidentalis, Bombus griseocollis, Bombus insularis, and Bombus suckleyi (Beattie et al. 1973, Thorp et al. 1983, Norment 1988, Colla and Dumesh 2010).