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Montana Field Guide

Montana Field Guides

Western Goldthread - Coptis occidentalis

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Native Species

Global Rank: G4G5
State Rank: S3S4
C-value: 7


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

External Links

 
General Description
Rhizomatous, herbaceous perennials with leafless stems 10–25 cm high in fruit. Leaves glabrous, petiolate, trifoliolate; leaflets dentate, often 3 to lobed, 2–7 cm long. Inflorescence a few-flowered, bractless cyme. Flowers perfect or staminate, star-shaped; sepals 5 to 7, white, deciduous, 9–12 mm; petals 5–7, white, clawed with a nectary near the base of the blade, shorter than sepals; stamens 10 to many, pistils 4 to 15, several-seeded. Fruit an aggregate of oblong follicles with gently recurved beaks (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Species Range
Montana Range Range Descriptions

Native
 


Range Comments
Endemic to North ID, adjacent WA, and MT (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 478

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density

Recency

 

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)



Habitat
Moist to wet forests, shrub fields, often with spruce or red cedar; montane, subalpine (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).


References
  • Literature Cited AboveLegend:   View Online Publication
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
  • Additional ReferencesLegend:   View Online Publication
    Do you know of a citation we're missing?
    • King, C. R. 1953. The Ranunculaceae of Montana. M.S. Thesis, Bozeman, MT: Montana State College. 82 p.
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
  • Web Search Engines for Articles on "Western Goldthread"
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Citation for data on this website:
Western Goldthread — Coptis occidentalis.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from