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February 1994

In This Issue:

WNPS News ^

Calendar ^

Adopt -A.- Rare- Plant ^

Wyoming Plant Families ^

Calling a Spathe a Spathe ^

parasitic Fungi ..... ^

Alpine Wonders of the Snowy Range ... 5

Botanist's Bookshelf ^

Penstemon caryi . , . , - .

0

WWPS NEWS

CALENDAR

Name Contest: Since its inception in 19S1, the Wyoming
Native Plant Society has never had an official name for the
newsletter. Other plant societies have nifty names like
Aqui leqj a (Colorado), Hentzel i a (Nevada), Fremont i a
(California), or Kelseya (Montana) for their newsletters.
Although Oxytropis nan a has served as our mascot for the
last twelve years, no one has ever suggested the name
"locoweed" or '" Oxytropi $ '" for our title. The time has come
for WNPS to adopt a worthy name for our newsletter.

The WNPS Board is sponsoring a contest to •"name the
newsletter". If you would like to nominate a native plant,
send a brief explanation of your choice to the Secretary by
March 15, 1994. The Board will select five nominees and
place these on the Spring ballot for rrtembers of the Society
to choose. The winning entry will be the Society's new
mascot and namesake of the newsletter. The winner will
receive a one-year free membership and a valuable prize.

Scholarship: The WNPS student research scholarship is

available to any junior college, undergraduate, or graduate
student studying the native flora of Wyoming, Projects may
deal with taxonomy, f I or i sties, ecology, range management,
forestry, physiology, mycology, or other botanical
disciplines. For 1994, one to three scholarships will be
awarded in the amount of S100 to $300 dollars. Applications,
including a brief description of the research project and
methods, are due March IS, 1994. Winners will be announced
in the May newsletter.

Elections: Once again, nominations are needed for Society
offices. If you have a candidate in mind, or can cajole
someone into volunteering to run, please send that person's
name to the Secretary before March 15, 1994.

New Members: Please welcome the following new members of
WNPS: Nancy Ark in, Moose; Sandy Floyd, Boulder, CO; Carla
Galloway, Los Altos, CA; Julian Hadley, Petersham, MA; John
Kamann, Butte, MT; Jean Oxley, Laramie; Jim Ozenberger,
Jackson; Carlos Palaci, Laramie; Tony Patterson, Northridge,
CA; Robin Romberg, Laramie; TNC Tensleep Preserve, Ten Sleep.

Treasurer's Report: Balance as of 28 January 1994: General
Fund $436.30, Scholarship Fund $131.00. Total funds:
$619.30. WF

*********************

Attention WNPS Members: Your articles about Wyoming native
plants or illustrations are welcome in the newsletter I
Deadline for the May issue is 15 April 1994.
********************

Wyoming Native Plant Society

President: Phil White
Vice President: Barbara Amidon
Secretary/Treasurer: Walt Fertig
Board Members: George Jones

Jennifer Whipple

Contributors to this issue: John Baxter (JB), Robert Dorn
(RD), Walter Fertig (UF), Phil White (PW), Linda Shoemaker,
Jsobel Nichols.

15 February: Play Native Plant Jeopardy with the Teton
County Chapter, 7:30 PM at ,the Jackson Hole Alliance
Building, 40 Simpson St. Call Diane (739-1363) or Katy
(733-1078) for more information.

17 February: Dr. Robert Dorn will present a free public
slide lecture on the topic "Should Rare Plants be
Protected?" Dorn is the author of Vascular Plants of
Wyocning, The Uyocning Landscape 1805-1878, Uyotning Birds
(coauthored with his wife, Jane Dorn) and numerous other
books on the flora of Montana, the Black Hills, and
pteridophytes. He has extensive experience studying rare
species in Wyoming over the last two decades. This lecture
will take place at 7 p.m. at the Albany County Public
Library in Laramie and is sponsored by the WNPS. PW

15-17 March. Second annual Wyoming Rare Plant Conference.
The US Forest Service, BLM, US Fish and Wildlife Service,
and WY Natural Diversity Database are sponsoring a three day
meeting at the Riverton Holiday Inn to discuss rare plants
of the state. A training seminar will be given on how to
conduct rare plant inventories, establish monitoring
programs, and develop habitat management plans and
conservation strategies. Dr. Richard Scott of Central
Wyoming College will give a presentation on his ongoing
research on alpine plants of the Rocky Mountains. The
meeting will also include a forum on the status of Wyoming's
approximately SO federal candidate and designated Sensitive
species. This meeting is open to the public and interested
WNPS members are encouraged to attend. For additional
information on the conference, please contact Walt Fertig
c/o WNPS.

Upcoming University of Wyoming Botany Seminars (all seminars
are held in the Classroom Building, room 117 at 3:10 PM).

4 February: Diana Tomback, Univ. of Colorado, Denver, will
discuss "Ecology of whttebark pine".

11 February: Ned Freedman, Univ. of Georgia, will discuss
the "Origin of flowering plants".

13 February: Dan Tinker, Univ. of Wyoming, will discuss
"Landscape- scale heterogeneity in Lodgepole pine serotiny".

25 February: Dick Scott, Central Wyoming College, will
discuss his research on alpine plants of Wyoming.

13 March: Kathy Doyle, Univ. of Wyoming, will discuss “Post-
fire succession in northwest Wyoming".

29 April: Jonathan Hughes, Univ. of Wyoming, will discuss
"Putative hybridization between two varieties of goLdenweed
( Oonopsis foL i osa ).

Upcoming Field Trips: (More details in the May newsletter)

18 June: Field trip in the Ashenfelder Basin of the northern
Laramie Range. 10-12 June: Montana Native Plant Society
annual meeting/fie Id trip in the South Pryor Mountains in
southern Montana. WNPS members are invited to participate.

2

July: Annual WNPS meeting and field trip, Teton National
Park. Tentatively scheduled for weekend of July S-10.

Adopt -A- Rare-P I aot

There are approximately 250 rare species and varieties
of plants in Wyoming tracked by The Nature Conservancy's
Uyoriing Natural Diversity Database (UYNDO), Each summer
WYNDD botanists conduct active field surveys for an average
of 10-25 of these species. For the remainder of the rare
species of the state^ basic research and monitoring is
sorely needed,

WYNDD and the Wyoming Native Plant Society (WNPS3 are
teaming up to sponsor an adopt-a-rare^plant program for
interested WNPS members and supporters. Volunteers are
being sought to adopt a species in their local area and
gather basic information about it. The information that is
needed includes: population size, vigor, habitat
characteristics, flowering time, pollinators, or any other
facts that could be important in helping to ensure the
continued survival of the adopted species. This information
will be used to update the records stored by UYNDO.

WNPS and UYNDO will provide volunteers with a "starter
kit" which will include illustrations, a non*technical
biography Cwith descriptions of the plant and its habitat),
location maps of known sites, and simple, easy to use
observation sheets.

The adopt-a-rare-plant program is intended to provide
WNPS members with a hands-on means of contributing to the
conservation of a local, rare species. Volunteers do not
need to be professional taxonomists to adopt a plant. All
it requires is a desire to learn about your adoptee and an
enthusiasm for getting outdoors.

No matter where you live or spend your summers, there
is a rare plant needing adoption near you. The following
is a small, and incomplete, list of potential plants to
adopt:

Casper: Many- stemmed spider- flower

Alpine fever- few

Cheyenne: Three- fingered milk vetch
Colorado butterfly plant
Jackson: Brown's peony

Alpine lady-fern

Laramie: Laramie false sagebrush
Rocky Mountain snow Lover
Rfverton/Lander: Barneby's clover
Desert yelLowhead.

Rock Springs/Green River: Green River greenthread
Sheridan: Soft aster

Mountain lousewort

If you are interested in volunteering for the adopt-a-
rare-plant program, need help in picking an "adoptee", or
would Like additional information, please contact Walter
Fertig of the UYNDO (745-5026). WF

Barneby's clover ( Trifol ium barnebyi ) is an example of
a rare species in need of adoption. This member of the pea
family is endemic to Fremont County, where it is found only
on reddish-cream outcrops of the Nugget Sandstone.
Populations occur on BLM lands and in the Wyoming Nature
Conservancy's recently purchased Red Canyon Preserve, The
plant is recognized by its sprawling, matted growth form,
veiny toothed Leaves, and whitish pea-like flowers,

Tri fol ium barnebyi was recognized as a distinct species
by Wyoming botanists Robert Dorn and Bob Lichvar in 19S1 (it
previously had been considered a variety of haydeni i , an
alpine species of northern Wyoming and southern Montana).
Hollis Marriott mapped and censused populations in 1986.
Since then, monitoring of these plants has been sporadic,
A good re- census is needed to determine population trends
and set management goals.

The illustration was provided by Isobel Nichols, an
aspiring botanical illustrator from the University of
Wyoming. WF

3

Family 20: Ericaceae, Heath Family
This is Che twentieth largest family of
flowering planes in Wyoming with 24
species- The family is rather diverse
making it difficult to characterise using
only a few characteristics- It is
sometimes divided into several families -
About half of the species are shrubs, over
a third have evergreen leaves, many
species have urn— shaped corollas (see
figure), a few are saprophytes lacking
green leaves , the anthers often open by
terminal pores , the styles are usually
solitary, and the locules are usually 4—
10. Some representatives include
bearberry (or kinnikinnick) , winter-
green, laurel, Labrador tea, heath,
pyrola, and blueberry or huckleberry.
Eleven of the fourteen genera are
represented by only a single species in
Wyoming . Our largest genus is Vacclnium
(blueberry or huckleberry) with six
species . Many of our species tend to grow
under dense stands of conifers. A good
example is the low huckleberry with red
berries chat forms dense carpets under
lodgepole pine and spruce-fir in the
mountains .

This concludes our survey of the twenty
largest flowering plant families in
Wyoming . These twenty families account
for about 75 percent of our species- The
remaining 25 percent are represented by
103 families. Twenty-five of these
families are represented by a single
species in Wyoming. RD

Flower of Pterospora , Pined rops (x 2)

Illustration at Right: Skunk cabbage C Lysichi ton
amer icanus ), Wyoming's only native plant with a spathe and
spadix. This member of the Aruin family is known only from
Yellowstone NP and was last observed in 1394, WF

COLLECTIOMS OF PARASITIC FUNGI
IN 1992 AND 1993

During 1992 and 1993 conditions in southeastern Wyoming
were favorable for the development of parasitic fungi,
especially powdery mildews and rust fungi. Collecting
during this period yielded the following new records for
Wyoming:

Powdery mildews

Erysiphe cichoracearum on Gai I lardi a ari stata ,
Hachaeranthera canescens , Rudbeckia hirta , and Lygodesmi a
iuncea .

Erysiphe polygoni on Hesperis matronal is .

Rust fungi

Puccini a excursion is on Erigeron peregrinus
Puccinia phystosteqiae on Physostegia parvif lora
Puccinia redf ieldiae on Redf ieldia f lexuosa
Puccinia subni tens on Mentzel fa s f nua t a
Puccinia xanthi i on Iva xanthi folia

Uromyces giganteus on krascheninni kovia lanata (syn. =
Ceratoides lanata , Eurotia I anata ) . JB

Calling a Spathe a Spathe *

By John “Barney" Baxter

Mo man could fashion on a lathe
A thing as lovely as a spathe,

A spathe in woodland shadows bathed,

A spathe that shelters all unscathed,

A spadix, slender tender spike
of flowers small and all alike.

Missiles are made by fools with lathes.

But only God can fashion spathes.

* (with apologies to Joyce Kilmer, New Jersey poet who wrote
“Trees" and for whom Camp Kilmer, Mew Jersey was named.
Camp Kilmer was the scene of a 1943 beer drinking contest
between Private R, McMeen and Private J, Baxter, US Army Air
Force) .

4

ALPINE WONDERS OF THE SHOWY RANGE
By Walter Fertig

"Exotic", defined by Webster as "strikingly different
or unusual" is a word that is not often used to describe
regions of Wyoming, especially to those who live here*
Exotic, however, is an appropriate term to describe the
alpine areas that crown only the highest peaks of the
state's mountain ranges. These wind- blasted realms of snow,
rock, ice, and dwarf plants, stand high above the forests
and sagebrush grasslands more familiar to the denizens of
lower altitudes. The alpine world is not readily accessible
to most people, and its natural treasures are thus poorly
known and rarely experienced.

One alpine area that is easily accessible is the Snowy
Range of southwestern Albany County and adjacent Carbon
County, Wyoming, The Snowies are located midway between
Laramie and Saratoga along state highway 130. This road vs
open just during the snow- free months of summer and early
fall. (Perhaps "snow- free" is a misnomer; snow may fall at
any time of the year in these high mountains.) The highway
itself reaches only as high as the upper subaLpine zone, a
land of Engelmann spruce/subalpine fir forests, rocky
meadows, and numerous lakes and ponds. To reach the exotic
world above timber line requires a short hike and climb in
the direction of Brown’s Peak <11,722 ft), Sugarloaf (11,398
ft) or Medicine Bow Peak (12,013 ft).

The Snowy Range is named for its surface layer of
sparkling, sugar-white quartzite that gives the peaks a
snowy appearance from a distance. These quartzite rocks are
conservatively estimated to be 2 billion years oldl Of
course, the Snowies could Just as easily be named for their
nearly year-round snowpack resulting from the 150 inches of
precipitation that may accumulate during the winter. Large
patches of snow typically persist throughout most of the
suimver in low-lying depressions and lee slopes out of the
ever-present wind.

Several different plant communities can be recognized
in the Snowies. Large areas of rolling, lawn- 1 ike meadows
called turfs are a common feature of the alpine zone. Turfs
are often dominated by alpine avens (Geum ross^), Rocky
Mountain sagewort ( Artemisia scopulorum ) , and a rich variety
of sedges, grasses, and showy forbs. This community usually
develops in areas where some soil is present and winter snow
cover is low. Low-lying areas with deeper snow accumulation
foster the development of wet meadow communities occupied by
wetland plants such as marsh marigold C Caltha leptosepala),
American globeflower ( TrolMus j^xus), plainleaf willow
f Sallx Dlanifolia var. monica ), and various sedges. Wet
areas with bare soil below melting snowfields also have
their own distinct community, often dominated by crusts of
non-vascular plants.

Areas of bare rock also have unusual cormunities.
Talus slopes, boulder fields and crevices in rock outcrops
are home to plants such as mountain sorrel ( pxyria digyna) ,
Colorado blue columbine ( Aqui legia coeruLea ) and brittle
fern ( Cvstooteris fragi I is ). Fell fields, the rocky
pavement- Like areas on windy ridgecrests, are inhabited by
rock-hugging cushion plants. The mat -forming growth form
adopted by these species is an adaptation to reduce water
loss in this locally dry environment. Common cushion plants
of the Snowies include moss campion ( Si lene acayUs),
cushion phlox ( Phlox pulvinata ), and arctic sandwort
( Minuartia [ Arenaria ] obtusi loba ).

Geum rossi 1 . Drawing by Dorothy Leake, from Williams
(1993)

Perhaps the most bizarre plant cotimunity in the
Snowies, however, is the upper timber line. This broad,
transition zone between the forested subaLpine and^ the
treeless alpine is inhabited by a dwarfed, twisted
"kruinnholz" stand of Engelmann spruce ( Picea engelmanni i)
and subalpine fir ( Abies las i oca r^ ). These forests in
miniature are often restricted to sheltered sites, such as
depressions, or the Lee side of boulders.

The alpine peaks of the Snowy Range are inhabited by a
large number of unusual plant species that are rare or
absent from other alpine areas of Wyoming. This is largely
the result of barriers that have prevented many alpine
plants from migrating between the Snowies and the high peaks
of mountain ranges elsewhere in the state. To the north,
east, and west, the Snowies (or more correctly the Medicine
Bow Range, of which the Snowies are a part), are surrounded
by grasslands or desert basins unsuitable to high elevation
plants. Only to the south, in the Colorado Front Range,
does similar alpine habitat occur without intervening
barriers. Thus f loristicaHy, the Snowy Range shares many
more alpine species in common with the mountains^ of central
Colorado and northern New Mexico than it does with similar
mountains of Wyoming.

One of the most unusual rare plants of the Snowies is
the Rocky Mountain nailwort ( Paronychia pulvinata). This
cushion plant is found in fell fields and exposed slopes
where it blends into other cushion species. It produces
solitary, petal- less, greenish-yellow flowers that are

5

completely imtnersed among the Leaves, Often it appears^ to
have no flowers at all. In Vyoming^ this meinber of the pink
family is found only in the Snowies and on the summit of Elk
Mountain.

Equally Limited in distribution is the Rocky Mountain
snowlover f Chionophi La James i i >. The name Chiooophi La is
derived from the Greek for "snow beloved" and accurately
describes this species* preference for habitats below Late-
lying snowfields. It fares best on wet, bare soil,
otherwise inhabited mostly by nonvascular plants* The
greenish -white flowers of Chionophi la resemble snapdragons
that have been flattened from the top and bottom.

Two of the more comrtvon species of Erigeron in the
Snowies, b Lackheaded daisy CE, melanocephalus ) and pinnate
fleabane (£. pinnatisectus ). are otherwise extremely rare
outside of the Medicine Bows and Sierra Madre. B tackheaded
daisy, characterized by its solitary flower heads and dark
purple, woolly involucres, is found on a variety of moist
habitats in the lower alpine and subalpine zones. Pinnate
fleabane is easily recognized by its pinnate I y divided
leaves and ciliate petioles. It is primarily a species of
rock outcrops and ledges, although it may also be found on
turfs.

One of the most beautiful and rarest species in the
Snowies is the golden saxifrage { $axi fraga serpvHifoU,a
var. chrysantha ). This inhabitant of windy fellfields sends
up small, golden- ye I low flowers on short stalks from a mat
of small basal leaves. Until a small population was located
in 1993, the golden saxifrage had not been documented in the
Snowy Range since 1926.

Two other rare species of the Snowies have avoided
being relocated in recent years. American alpine lady fern
( Athyrium distent! fol ium var, americanum) is known from
several historical records in the Sugarloaf Mountain area,
but has eluded detection since 1934. According to Nelson's
"Vascular Plants of the Medicine Bow Range" it is found on
rocky talus slopes and along rushing streams. Patterson's
sagewort C Artemisia pattersoni i 1 is an even greater mystery.
This species was reported for the Snowy Range by Wiens and
Richter in a 1966 paper. It is similar to the common Rocky
Mountain sagewort (A, scopulorum>, but can be distinguished
by having fewer flower heads and leaves that are only once-
pinnately divided (instead of twice or more in A.
scopulorum ) . Unfortunately, no specific location
information is provided by Wiens and Richter, and this
regional endemic plant has not been relocated since.

Medicine Bow Peak and the other high summits of the
Snowy Range have long been recognized for their rich
diversity of arctic-alpine and southern Rocky Mountain
regionally endemic alpine species. In 1904, this area was
strongly recommended for designation as a special interest
area by the Wyoming Natural Areas Needs Workshop. Medicine
Bow National Forest in 1985 incorporated this recommendation
into its ten-year land and resource management plan. The
Medicine Bow Peak Special Botanical Area (S8A) was
established to protect the unique botanical features of the
suntnits of Medicine Bow Peak, Lookout Peak, and Sugarloaf
Mountain,

Unfortunately, the boundaries of the SBA were never
formally established in the 1905 Forest Plan. The perimeter
can only be inferred from the supplemental Management Area
Map as the site in the vicinity of Medicine Bow Peak managed
under prescription IOC. To ensure the Long-term protection
of the numerous rare species and interesting communities of

the SBA, these boundaries need to be maintained (or even
expanded) and clearly defined.

Medicine Bow National Forest is currently preparing to
update its Forest Plan and is soliciting public comments on
issues of concern. WNPS members have an opportunity now to
help ensure that this unique and "exotic" area is provided
long-term protection.

Erigeron melanocephalus . Drawing by W. Fertig

6

Artemisia pattersonf i , Drawing from Hall and CLements
( 1923 ).

BOTANIST'S BOOKSHELF

A Field Guide to the Ecology of Western Forests, by John C,
Kricher, ill, by Gordon Morrison. 1993. Houghton-Hif f Un,
Boston^ MA., $16.95, 554 pp., illus.

A field Guide to the Ecology of Western Forests is the
latest title in the Peterson Field Guide series. It
represents a departure from the typical field guide format
in that its focus is on the interpretation of the natural
world, rather than the identification of individual species.

Kri Cher's field guide is unusual in that it covers a range
of living creatures, from birds and mammals to flowering
plants and trees. The book also differs from other guides
in that it is written entirely in prose rather than short
snippets of descriptive phrases.

Early chapters of the book discuss general principles
of ecology and describe the more typical large mammal and
bird species of the west. Later chapters focus on each of
the major forest regions of the west, from the boreal forest
to the California chaparral, and from the Great Plains to
the Rockies. Each chapter includes a description of the
area, a discussion of indicator plants and animals, and a
brief section on representative areas to visit.
Interspersed throughout the book are essays on a variety of
subjects, ranging from succession on Mount St. Helens to the
diversity of chipmunk species in the Sierras. Far from
being esoteric discourses, these essays serve to subtly
introduce the reader to lessons in ecology and conservation.

Without reading like a dry textbook, this field guide
provides an outstanding, non-technical introduction to the
study of plant and animal ecology. It is recommended
reading for naturalists who wish to go beyond knowing just
the identity of western plants and animals and who wish to
learn why the natural world looks and behaves the way it
does. WF

A Utah Flora, second edition. Stanley Welsh, N. Duane
Atwood, Sherel Goodrich, and Larry Higgins, ed. 1993.
Brigham Young Univ. Press, Provo, Utah, $ 65.00, 9S6 pp.

Originally published in 1987, A Utah Flora has been
revised to include newly described taxa, new state records,
and range extensions that have resulted from the
considerable botanical field work that has been done in Utah
in the last decade. Nearly 3000 native and 682 introduced
taxa are treated in the new book, an increase of 4.7?; since
1987. The second edition follows the same general format of
the original and includes user-friendly technical keys, full
species descriptions, and an excellent glossary. This work
is clearly the most complete and current treatment of the
flora of Utah and is a valuable reference to botanists in
western and southern Wyoming.

There are, however, a few changes that could have been
made to make this volume even more useful for the Wyoming
audience- Wyoming is omitted from the range* wide
distribution given for many species, such as Cymopterus
lonqipes . Lomatium bicolor . Phacelia demissa . P. tetramera .
and Parrya nudi caul i s (to name Just a few). These
distributions may not have been known when the first edition
appeared, but with the subsequent publication of Dorn's
Vascular Plants of Wyoming in 1988 and 1992 this information
should have been available to the authors. Indeed, Dorn's
recent floras are not even cited in the references, in
addition, the treatment of the genus Afabis , particularly
the oxylobul a and holboel I j 1 complexes, is confusing and may
rot be applicable to Wyoming material.

These, however, are minor drawbacks. This book is an
important reference for the professional or advanced amateur
botanist of Wyoming and Utah, WF

7

On the Cover:

Cary's beardtongue
( Penstemon carvf )

Cary's beardtongue fs endemic to the Bighorn Mountains
of Wyoming and the Pryor Mountains of southern Montana. It
is restricted to sparsely vegetated, calcareous rock
outcrops and rocky soils within sagebrush, juniper, Douglas
fir, and limber pine comrmjnities. The flowers of this
attractive perennial are bluish-purple and glabrous,
Beardtongues are named because of their densely hairy fifth
stamen, which lacks developed anther sacs and is completely
sterile. The four pollen- producing stamens of Penstemon
caryi are straw-colored and conspicuously wavy-hairy. This
feature of the stamens, combined with the plant's narrow,
linear leaves and glabrous inflorescence will distinguish it
from similar Penstemon s of the Bighorns. Cary's beardtongue
blooms from Hay to June (occasionally into July).

In 1993, Cary's beardtongue was Listed as a candidate
species for potential protection under the Endangered
Species Act by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Although
its range is Limited (being found only in Big Horn,
Sheridan, and Washakie Counties in Wyoming), this species
presently appears to be secure. Additional surveys are
needed to determine its abundance, total distribution, and
threats. The Nature Conservancy's Tensleep Preserve
protects numerous scattered colonies of this plant and is an
excellent place to observe this, and several other rare
species of the Bighorns,

The cover illustration was drawn by Rock Springs artist
Linda Shoemaker, a recent graduate from the Botany
Department of the Uni v. of Wyoming, WF

[f a "93" is after your name on the address Label, this is
your last issue. Renewals are S3, 00 for regular members and
$1.50 for seniors and students.

Wyoming Native Plant Society
160A Grand Ave., Suite Z
Laramie, WY 82071