''Parthenium alpinum'' is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names alpine feverfew and Wyoming feverfew. It is native to

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

in the United States.''Parthenium alpinum''.
The Nature Conservancy. This is a small, mat-forming, long-lived perennial herb with gray-green, hairy leaves and solitary

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

. The heads contain whitish or greenish disc florets and a few pistillate ray florets that do not have

ligule A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk of many Poaceae, grasses (Poaceae) and Cyperaceae, sedges. A ligule is also a strap-shaped extension of the corolla ...

s.''Parthenium alpinum''.
Flora of North America.Heidel, B. and J. Handley
''Parthenium alpinum'' (Nutt.) Torr. & Gray (alpine feverfew): A technical conservation assessment.
Prepared for the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, Species Conservation Project. November 1, 2004 Flowering occurs in mid-April through mid-May. This plant grows in

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

s and shrublands, especially those dominated by ''

Cercocarpus ''Cercocarpus'', commonly known as mountain mahogany, is a small genus of at least nine species of nitrogen-fixing flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native to the western United States and northern Mexico, where they grow i ...

''. The

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

ranges from 1500 to 2200 meters. Despite its name it does not actually grow in

alpine climate Alpine climate is the typical weather ( climate) for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions ...

s. The plant generally grows on

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

, but also on

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especia ...

. It grows on exposed, wind-eroded ridges and hills with little vegetative cover. The soils are thin and gravelly. This plant occurs in five Wyoming counties and one Colorado county, and in 1984 it was discovered in New Mexico, where it occurs in two counties. It has a

disjunct distribution In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...

, its range divided into five main population centers. It is most common in Wyoming, where there are probably millions of plants. In Platte County there are perhaps one million or more.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7140243 alpinum Flora of Colorado Flora of New Mexico Flora of Wyoming