State Plant Listings
Montana
Vegetation References
(Dominant plant species present in each vegetation type are listed in Appendix C)
10 Western Ponderosa forest (Pinus)
11 Douglas Fir Forest (Pseudotsuga)
12 Cedar-Hemlock-Pine Forest (Thuja-Tsuga-Pinus)
14 Western Spruce-Fir Forest (Picea-Abies)
15 Eastern Ponderosa Forest (Pinus)
45 Alpine Meadows and Barren (Agrostis, Carex, Festuca, Poa)
49 Sagebrush Steppe (Artemisia-Agropyron)
56 Foothills Prairie (Agropyron-Festuca-Stipa)
57 Grama-Needlegrass-Wheatgrass (Bouteloua-Stipa-Agropyron)
59 Wheatgrass-Needlegrass (Agropyron-Stipa)
89 Northern Floodplain Forest (Populus-Salix-Ulmus)
Botanical Experts
Scott Mincemoyer,
Program Botanist
MT Natural Heritage Program
— MT State Library/Univ of MT
PO Box 201800
1515 East Sixth Ave
Helena, MT 59620
406-360-6202
internet: smincemoyer@mt.gov
Revegetation Botanists:
Phil Johnson
Montana Dept. of Transportation
Jim Olivarez
U.S. Forest Service Region 1 Office
Recommended Flora
Dorn, R.D. 1984. Vascular Plants of Montana. Mountain West Publishing. Cheyenne, WY 276 pgs.
Native Plants for Landscape Use in Montana
Cactus
Opuntia macrorhiza (common prickly pear)
Ferns
Adiantum pedatum (northern maidenhair fern)
Aspidotis densa (rock brake, cliff brake, Indian's dream)
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Botrychium virginianum (rattlesnake fern)
Cheilanthes gracillima (lace fern)
Cystopteris fragilis (fragile fern)
Gymnocarpium dryopteris (oak fern)
Polystichum munitum (western sword fern)
Forbs (annuals/biennials)
Achillea millefolium (Western white yarrow)
Cleome serrulata (Rocky Mountain beeplant)
Collomia grandiflora (collomia)
Coreopsis tinctoria (tickseed, goldenwave, plains coreopsis, calliopsis)
Dyssodia papposa (dyssodia, dogweed, fetid marigold)
Euphorbia marginata (snow-on-the-mountain)
Helianthus annuus (common sunflower)
Helianthus petiolaris (plains sunflower)
Ipomopsis aggregata (sky rocket, scarlet gilia)
Lepidium montanum (mountain peppergrass)
Linum rigidum (yellow flax)
Machaeranthera tanacetifolia (tahoka daisy, tansy aster)
Mimulus guttatus (golden monkey flower)
Nemophila breviflora (Great Basin nemophila)
Oenothera albicaulis (pale evening primrose)
Senecio plattensis (prairie ragwort, prairie groundsel)
Townsendia exscapa (Easter daisy)
Forbs (perennials)
Abronia fragrans (sweet sand verbena)
Aconitum columbianum (western monkshood)
Allium cernuum (nodding onion)
Anaphalis margaritacea (pearly everlasting)
Anemone canadensis (Canada anemone; windflower)
Anemone cylindrica (thimbleweed, candle anemone)
Anemone multifida (early thimbleweed, cut-leaf anemone, Pacific anemone)
Antennaria spp. (pussytoes, everlasting)
Apocynum androsaemifolium (spreading dogbane)
Aquilegia coerulea (Rocky Mountain or blue columbine)
Aquilegia flavescens (yellow columbine)
Arnica cordifolia (heartleaf arnica)
Artemisia ludoviciana (white sage, prairie sage, artemisia)
Asarum caudatum (wild ginger)
Asclepias speciosa (showy milkweed)
Asclepias verticillata (whorled milkweed)
Aster ascendens (purple aster, Pacific aster)
Aster foliaceus (leafy aster)
Aster laevis (smooth aster)
Aster modestus
Astragalus americanus (American milk vetch, rattlepod)
Astragalus canadensis (milk vetch, Canada milk vetch)
Balsamorrhiza sagittata (balsamroot)
Calochortus macrocarpus (bigpod mariposa)
Calochortus nuttallii (sego lily, mariposa lily)
Caltha leptosepala (white marsh marigold, elkslip)
Campanula rotundifolia (harebell)
Castilleja angustifolia var. dubia (desert paintbrush)
Castilleja linariifolia (Indian paintbrush)
Castilleja sessiliflora (downy painted cup)
Castilleja sulphurea (splitleaf Indian paintbrush)
Claytonia lanceolata (spring beauty)
Clematis hirsutissima (clematis, vase flower, leather flower, lion's beard)
Clintonia uniflora (bride's bonnet, queen cup, bead lily)
Cornus canadensis (bunchberry)
Dalea candida (white prairie clover)
Dalea purpurea (purple prairie clover)
Delphinium glaucum (tower larkspur)
Dodecatheon jeffreyi (Jeffrey's shooting stars)
Dryas drummondii (yellow dryas)
Dryas octopetala (mountain dryas, white mountain avens)
Echinacea angustifolia (narrow-leaved purple coneflower)
Epilobium angustifolium (fireweed, willow herb)
Epilobium latifolium (dwarf fireweed)
Erigeron compositus (alpine daisy)
Erigeron speciosus (showy fleabane)
Eriogonum umbellatum (sulfur buckwheat)
Eriophyllum lanatum (woolly sunflower, Oregon sunshine)
Erythronium grandiflorum (glacier lily, yellow fawn lily, dogtooth violet)
Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry)
Gaillardia aristata (blanket flower, gaillardia, brown-eyed Susan)
Galium triflorum (sweet-scented bedstraw)
Gaura coccinea (scarlet gaura)
Geranium viscossisimum (sticky wild geranium)
Geum rivale (purple avens, water avens)
Geum triflorum (prairie smoke, purple avens)
Glycyrrhiza lepidota (wild licorice)
Hedysarum boreale (sweet vetch, sweet broom)
Helenium autumnale (common sneezeweed)
Helianthus maximiliani (Maximilian sunflower)
Helianthus pauciflorus ssp. pauciflorus (stiff sunflower)
Heterotheca villosa var. villosa (golden aster)
Heuchera parvifolia (saxifrage, alum root)
Heuchera richardsonii (alum root)
Ipomoea leptophylla (bush morning glory)
Iris missouriensis (Rocky Mountain iris, western blue flag)
Leptodactylon pungens
Lewisia rediviva (bitter root)
Liatris punctata (dotted blazing star, gayfeather)
Lilium columbianum (Columbia lily, Oregon lily, wild tiger lily)
Lilium philadelphicum (wood lily)
Linnaea borealis (twinflower)
Linum lewisii (wild blue flax)
Lithospermum incisum (fringed puccoon, narrow-leaved puccoon)
Luetkea pectinata (Alaska spiraea, partridge foot)
Lupinus argenteus (silvery lupine)
Lupinus caudatus (tailcup lupine)
Lupinus polyphyllus (meadow lupine, bog lupine)
Maianthemum racemosum ssp. racemosum (false Solomon's seal, false spikenard)
Maianthemum stellatum (starry Solomon's seal)
Mertensia ciliata (mountain bluebells)
Mimulus lewisii (Lewis monkey flower, great purple monkey flower)
Minuartia obtusiloba (cushion sandwort)
Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot, horsemint, beebalm)
Myosotis asiatica (forget-me-not)
Nothocalais cuspidata (prairie dandelion)
Oenothera cespitosa (gumbo evening primrose, gumbo lily)
Oenothera flava (Shortfin evening primrose)
Osmorhiza berteroi (mountain sweet cicely)
Pedicularis groenlandica (elephant heads)
Penstemon albidus (white beardtongue)
Penstemon cyananthus (Platte River penstemon, Wasatch penstemon)
Penstemon deustus (hot rock penstemon)
Penstemon fruticosus (shrubby penstemon)
Petrophyton caespitosum (dwarf spiraea, petrophytum, tufted rockmat)
Phacelia sericea (silky phacelia)
Phlox diffusa (mat phlox)
Phlox speciosa (showy phlox)
Polemonium occidentale (Jacob's ladder)
Polemonium pulcherrimum (alpine Jacob's ladder, skunk leaf)
Polemonium viscosum (sky pilot)
Potentilla arguta (white cinquefoil, prairie cinquefoil, tall cinquefoil)
Potentilla nivea (villous cinquefoil)
Pyrola elliptica (shinleaf)
Ranunculus alismifolius (meadow buttercup)
Ratibida columnifera (prairie coneflower, long-headed coneflower, Mexican hat)
Rudbeckia laciniata (cut-leaf coneflower)
Saxifraga bronchialis (spotted saxifrage, matted saxifrage)
Saxifraga cespitosa (tufted saxifrage)
Saxifraga oppositifolia (purple saxifrage)
Silene acaulis (moss campion)
Solidago canadensis (meadow goldenrod)
Solidago missouriensis (Missouri goldenrod, prairie goldenrod)
Solidago multiradiata (northern goldenrod, mountain goldenrod)
Solidago nemoralis (gray goldenrod, old-field goldenrod)
Solidago rigida (stiff goldenrod)
Sphaeralcea coccinea (scarlet globe mallow)
Tellima grandiflora (fringe cup)
Tetraneuris acaulis var. acaulis (stemless goldflower, stemless rubber weed, butte marigold)
Thalictrum dasycarpum (tall or purple meadow rue)
Thermopsis rhombifolia var. montana (golden pea, buckbean)
Trillium ovatum (coast trillium, western wakerobin)
Verbena hastata (blue verbena, blue vervain)
Verbena stricta (hoary vervain)
Viola canadensis (Canada violet)
Viola glabella (smooth yellow or stream violet)
Viola macloskeyi (white mountain violet)
Viola nuttallii (yellow violet)
Viola vallicola (yellow violet)
Xerophyllum tenax (beargrass)
Yucca glauca (yucca, soapweed)
Zizia aptera (heart-leaved golden alexanders)
Grasses/Grass-like plants
Agrostis exarata (spikebent, spike red top)
Agrostis scabra (ticklegrass, fly-away grass)
Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem)
Andropogon hallii (sand bluestem)
Andropogon scoparium (little bluestem)
Aristida purpurea (purple three awn)
Beckmannia syzigachne (American sloughgrass)
Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama)
Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama)
Bromus carinatus (California brome)
Bromus ciliatus
Bromus marginatus
Buchloe dactyloides (buffalograss)
Calamagrostis canadensis (bluejoint grass)
Calamagrostis stricta
Carex aquatilis (water sedge)
Carex lanuginosa
Carex microptera
Carex nebrascensis
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)
Carex praegracilis
Carex rossii
Carex stipata (awl-fruited sedge)
Carex utriculata (beaked sedge)
Carex vesicaria
Danthonia californica (California oatgrass)
Danthonia intermedia (timber oatgrass)
Danthonia parryi
Danthonia spicata (poverty grass)
Deschampsia cespitosa (tufted hairgrass)
Distichlis spicata (seashore saltgrass)
Eleocharis acicularis
Eleocharis palustris (creeping spikesedge, spike rush)
Elymus canadensis (Canada wild rye)
Elymus elymoides (bottlebrush squirreltail)
Elymus trachycaulus (Slender wheatgrass)
Elymus glaucus (blue wild rye)
Elymus lanceolatus (thickspike wheatgrass)
Elymus smithii
Elymus virginicus
Festuca idahoensis (Idaho fescue, blue bunchgrass)
Festuca ovina (sheep fescue)
Festuca scabrella
Glyceria grandis (American mannagrass, tall mannagrass, reed meadowgrass)
Hierochloe odorata (sweet grass)
Juncus balticus (Baltic rush)
Juncus interior (inland rush)
Koeleria macrantha (June grass)
Leersia oryzoides (rice cut grass)
Leymus cinereus (Great Basin wild rye)
Leymus triticoides (creeping (Shoshone) wildrye)
Muhlenbergia montana (mountain mutely)
Oryzopsis hymenoides (Indian ricegrass)
Panicum virgatum (switchgrass)
Pascopyrum smithii (western wheatgrass)
Phleum alpinum (alpine timothy)
Poa alpina (alpine bluegrass)
Poa secunda (pine bluegrass)
Pseudoroegneria spicata (bluebunch wheatgrass)
Puccinellia distans (alkaligrass)
Scirpus americanus
Scirpus acutus (hardstem bulrush)
Scirpus maritimus (alkali bulrush, prairie bulrush, bayonet grass)
Spartina pectinata (prairie cordgrass, freshwater cordgrass)
Sporobolus airoides (alkali sacaton)
Sporobolus compositus var. composites (tall dropseed)
Sporobolus cryptandrus (sand dropseed)
Stipa comata (needle-and-thread grass)
Stipa spartea (porcupine grass)
Stipa viridula
Typha angustifolia (narrow-leaved cattail)
Typha latifolia (cattail)
Shrubs (deciduous)
Alnus incana (speckled alder, mountain alder)
Amelanchier alnifolia (saskatoon, western serviceberry, Juneberry)
Amelanchier utahensis (Utah serviceberry)
Artemisia cana (silver sagebrush, white sagebrush, hoary sagebrush)
Artemisia frigida (prairie sagewort, fringed sage)
Atriplex confertifolia (spiny saltbush, shadscale saltbush, hop sage)
Atriplex gardneri
Betula glandulosa
Cassiope tetragona
Ceanothus sanguineus (redstem ceanothus, wild lilac)
Chrysothamnus nauseosus (rabbit brush, chamisa)
Cornus stolonifera (red-osier dogwood)
Corylus cornuta (beaked hazelnut or filbert)
Crataegus douglasii (black hawthorn)
Elaeagnus commutata (silverberry, wild olive, wolf willow)
Gaultheria humifusa (wintergreen)
Gaultheria sarothrae
Holodiscus discolor (cream bush, ocean spray, mountain spray)
Kalmia microphylla (laurel)
Ledum glandulosum (Labrador tea)
Lonicera involucrata (black twinberry, bear berry honeysuckle)
Lonicera utahensis
Pachistima myrsinites
Potentilla fruticosa (potentilla, shrubby cinquefoil, yellow rose)
Prunus virginiana (chokecherry)
Purshia tridentata (antelope brush)
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Rhus trilobata (squawbush, basketbush, skunkbush)
Ribes aureum (golden currant)
Ribes cereum (wax currant, western red currant, squaw currant)
Ribes hudsonianum (wild black currant)
Ribes lacustre (swamp currant)
Rosa acicularis
Rosa arkansana (prairie rose)
Rosa idaeus
Rosa nutkana (nootka rose)
Rosa sayi
Rosa woodsii (western wild rose, woods rose)
Rubus parviflorus (western thimbleberry)
Rubus ursinus (western blackberry)
Salix arctica (arctic willow)
Salix bebbiana (Bebb willow, long-beaked willow)
Salix boothii
Salix discolor (pussy willow)
Salix drummondii
Salix exigua
Salix lutea
Salix scouleriana (western pussy willow, Scouler's willow)
Sambucus cerulea (blue elderberry)
Sarcobatus vermiculatus (greasewood)
Shepherdia argentea (silver buffaloberry)
Shepherdia canadensis (buffaloberry)
Sorbus scopulina (western mountain ash)
Spiraea douglasii (western spiraea, hardhack spiraea)
Symphoricarpos oreophilus (mountain snowberry)
Vaccinium caespitosum (dwarf bilberry)
Vaccinium scoparium
Viburnum edule (moosewood viburnum)
Viburnum lentago (black haw, nannyberry)
Shrubs (evergreen)
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (bearberry, kinnikinnik)
Artemisia nova (black sagebrush)
Artemisia tridentata (big sagebrush, Great Basin sagebrush)
Ceanothus velutinus (mountain balm, buckbush)
Cercocarpus ledifolius (curl-leaf mountain mahogany)
Grayia spinosa (spiny hopsage)
Juniperus communis (common juniper)
Juniperus horizontalis (creeping juniper, creeping savin)
Mahonia aquifolium (Oregon grape)
Mahonia repens
Paxistima myrsinites (Oregon box, myrtle boxwood, mountain lover)
Phyllodoce empetriformis (pink mountain heather)
Trees (deciduous)
Acer glabrum (Rocky Mountain maple)
Acer grandidentatum (bigtooth maple)
Acer negundo (box elder)
Betula occidentalis (mountain birch, water birch)
Betula papyrifera (paper birch)
Fraxinus pensylvanica (green ash)
Larix occidentalis (western larch, western tamarack)
Populus acuminata
Populus angustifolia
Populus deltoides (eastern cottonwood)
Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen)
Populus trichocarpa
Prunus americana (wild plum)
Prunus emarginata
Prunus pennsylvanica (fire or pin cherry)
Salix amygdaloides (peachleaf willow)
Trees (evergreen)
Abies grandis (grand fir, giant fir)
Abies lasiocarpa (subalpine fir)
Juniperus osteosperma (Utah juniper)
Juniperus scopulorum (Rocky Mountain juniper)
Picea engelmannii (Engelmann spruce)
Picea glauca (white spruce)
Pinus albicauli
Pinus contorta
Pinus flexilis (limber pine)
Pinus monticola (western white pine)
Pinus ponderosa (ponderosa pine)
Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas fir)
Taxus brevifolia (western yew, Pacific yew)
Thuja plicata (western red cedar)
Tsuga heterophylla (western hemlock)
Tsuga mertensiana (mountain hemlock)
Vines (deciduous)
Clematis columbiana (purple virgin's bower)
Clematis ligusticifolia (clematis)
Lonicera ciliosa (orange honeysuckle)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia var. quinquefolia (woodbine)
Vitis riparia (riverbank grape)
Federally Listed Endangered Species
Ute ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis)
Water howellia (Howellia aquatilis)
Montana Noxious Species
Because the noxious weed lists have continually changed since we gathered them in 1994, we are not including them at this time. Not all States have noxious weed lists. Those that do, do not use the same standards of importance and are not comparable. States typically have included plants that interfere with agriculture (Canada thistle), or cause human health problems (poison ivy). Some States are now including a category of plants that invade and degrade the environment (purple loosestrife). Check with your State's Agriculture Department or Weed Scientist listed below. The noxious weed list can be used two ways on roadsides: 1) check to not inadvertently plant these invasive plants, and 2) note the plants you are legally responsible to control. Many States now check adjacent State lists to avoid planting their neighbors' problem plants. Because weeds do not respect political boundaries, and because by their very nature weeds continue to adapt and expand, monitoring and controlling invasives at State borders is a wise part of vegetation management.
(Weed Law)
Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Sciences Division
PO Box 200201
Helena, MT 59620
Roger Sheley
Montana State University
334 Leon Johnson Hall, Box 3120
Bozeman, MT 59715
(406) 994-5686
Montana Resources
Montana Natural Heritage Program
State Library Building
1515 East 6th Avenue
Helena, MT 59620
(406) 444-3009
The Nature Conservancy Field Office
32 South Ewing
Helena, MT 59601
(406) 443-0303
Montana Native Plant Society
PO Box 992
Bozeman, MT 59771
Montana State University Arboretum
W. College Avenue and S. 11 th Avenue
Bozeman, MT 59717
