English

Abstract

From 1999 to 2002 we gathered seed from 19 perennial species deemed critical for roadside revegetation of the Beartooth highway in Wyoming and Montana, 40 miles northeast of the east entrance to Yellowstone. Collection elevations ranged between 2,895 and 3,322 meters during mid August to early September as seed ripened. In 2001 and 2002 we transplanted 38,000 tubelings for seed production at a farm in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming with an elevation of 1,230 meters. After four years of production the field grow-out was cancelled due to poor results. 13 species exhibited premature anthesis, which lead to poor seed production or early mortality. Nine species exhibited difficulty adapting to heavy clay soils or very sandy soils. Nine species exhibited traits rendering mechanized seed harvest impossible or prohibitively expensive. Two species were highly susceptible to predators. In all, only four species exhibited favorable attributes for commercial seed production while an additional three could be made commercially viable with further work. Twelve species were considered very unlikely for commercial availability. The successful species, (Achillea millefolium, Penstemon procerus, Poa nevadensis, Stipa nelsonii), where usually minor components of the source landscape, dominated by grasses, (Deschampsia cespitosa, Danthonia intermedia, Phleum alpinum, Poa alpina). Results indicate a need for a collection and trials of many populations to develop broadly adapted cultivars for high elevation mining use in North America.