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Plant Profile

Alpine Feverfew (Parthenium alpinum)

Photo Credit: Jim Locklear
  • Global Rank: G3 - Vulnerable
  • Legal Status: N/A
  • Family: Asteraceae
  • State: CO, NM, WY
  • Nature Serve ID: 135116
  • Lifeform: Forb/herb
  • Date Inducted in National Collection: 02/25/1988
Description:

The Wyoming feverfew was lost for over 100 years. First collected in 1834 by famed botanical explorer Thomas Nuttall somewhere along the route that would later become the Oregon Trail, it was not seen again until 1947, when it was rediscovered in central Wyoming. Inhabiting rocky, windswept places on the plains, Wyoming feverfew is an inconspicuous, cushion-forming plant that is easily overlooked even by seasoned botanists.

Where is Alpine Feverfew (Parthenium alpinum) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Rocky ridges and hills, flat areas with rocky pavement, gravelly loam and sandy slopes on the plains. Often in association with limestone. Occurs in cushion plant communities within more densely vegetated mixed grass prairie, with Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) sometimes in association.

Distribution:

Centered in southeastern and central Wyoming (Goshen, Platte, Natrona and Carbon counties), with slightly disjunct occurrences in northeastern Colorado (Weld County). Isolated, highly disjunct occurre

States & Provinces:

Alpine Feverfew can be found in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming

Which CPC Partners conserve Alpine Feverfew (Parthenium alpinum)?

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

  • 09/23/2020
  • Seed Collection

Successfully propagated from seed, with no special pretreatment needed (Nebraska Statewide Arboretum).

  • 09/23/2020
  • Propagation Research

Successfully propagated from seed, with no special pretreatment needed (Nebraska Statewide Arboretum).

Nature Serve Biotics
  • 05/02/2017

A regional endemic with 54 known occurrences.

Jim Locklear
  • 01/01/2010

Construction associated with oil and gas development. Off-road vehicle damage.

Jim Locklear
  • 01/01/2010

Colorado: 2 known occurrences (O'Kane 1988). Wyoming: ca. 25 known occurrences (Hartman and Nelson 1995).

Jim Locklear
  • 01/01/2010

Successfully propagated from seed, with no special pretreatment needed (Nebraska Statewide Arboretum).

Jim Locklear
  • 01/01/2010

Clarify the actual distribution of P. alpinum by determining whether plants found in the isolated, highly disjunct occurrences listed above under ""Distribution"" are P. alpinum or P. tetraneuris.

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Nomenclature
Taxon Parthenium alpinum
Authority (Nutt.) Torr. & Gray
Family Asteraceae
CPC Number 3115
ITIS 38161
USDA PAAL6
Duration Perennial
Common Names Alpine fever-few | Wyoming feverfew | Arkansas River feverfew
Associated Scientific Names Bolophyta alpina | Parthenium tetraneuris | Bolophyta tetraneuris | Parthenium alpinum var. tetraneuris | Parthenium alpinum | Parthenium alpinum var. alpinum
Distribution Centered in southeastern and central Wyoming (Goshen, Platte, Natrona and Carbon counties), with slightly disjunct occurrences in northeastern Colorado (Weld County). Isolated, highly disjunct occurre
State Rank
State State Rank
Wyoming S3
Colorado S2
New Mexico S2
Ecological Relationships

Photos

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