Arnica is a genus of perennial, herbaceous plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). The genus name Arnica may be derived from the Greek arni, "lamb", in reference to the plants' soft, hairy leaves. Arnica is also known by the names mountain tobacco and confusingly, leopard's bane and wolfsbane—two names that it shares with the entirely unrelated genus Aconitum.
The ecology of the Rocky Mountains is diverse due to the effects of a variety of environmental factors. The Rocky Mountains are the major mountain range in western North America, running from the far north of British Columbia in Canada to New Mexico in the southwestern United States, climbing from the Great Plains at or below 1,800 feet (550 m) to peaks of over 14,000 feet (4,300 m). Temperature and rainfall varies greatly also and thus the Rockies are home to a mixture of habitats including the alpine, subalpine and boreal habitats of the Northern Rocky Mountains in British Columbia and Alberta, the coniferous forests of Montana and Idaho, the wetlands and prairie where the Rockies meet the plains, a different mix of conifers on the Yellowstone Plateau in Wyoming and in the high Rockies of Colorado and New Mexico, and finally the alpine tundra of the highest elevations.
Linanthus pungens is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names granite prickly-phlox and granite gilia. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Baja California and east to Montana and New Mexico.
Artemisia tripartita is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name threetip sagebrush. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Nevada and Montana to Colorado. It covers about 8.4 million acres of the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin.
Salix brachycarpa is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common names barren-ground willow, small-fruit willow and shortfruit willow.
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, Colorado, and New Mexico in the United States.
Astragalus leptaleus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name park milkvetch. It is native to the Rocky Mountains of the United States, where it occurs in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado.
Astragalus molybdenus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names Leadville milkvetch and molybdenum milkvetch. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States. If the separate species Astragalus shultziorum and Astragalus lackschewitzii are included in A. molybdenum the range expands into Wyoming and Montana.
Cymopterus evertii is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common names Evert's springparsley and Evert's waferparsnip. It is native to Utah and Wyoming in the United States.
Draba globosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names beavertip draba, round-fruited draba, and rockcress draba. It is native to the western United States, where it occurs in Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and possibly Colorado.
Draba graminea is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names Rocky Mountain draba and San Juan Whitlow-grass. It is endemic to the state of Colorado in the United States, where it is limited to the San Juan Mountains.
Linanthus watsonii is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name Watson's prickly phlox. It is native to the western United States, where it occurs in Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming.
Castilleja kerryana is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae. It was formally described in 2013 and so far it is known only from a small population in the state of Montana, in the Northwestern United States.
Eritrichium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae. It contains 71 species. Notable members include Eritrichium howardii and Eritrichium nanum.
Eritrichium nanum, the arctic alpine forget-me-not or king-of-the-Alps, is a circumpolar alpine cushion plant which occurs in the North American Rocky mountains as well as the European Alps. It grows at elevations of 10,000 feet in an environment of acid rocks, snow gullies and receding glaciers.
Erigeron rydbergii is a North American species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name Rydberg's fleabane.. It is native to the western United States, in the Rocky Mountains and other nearby ranges in the states of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah.
Erigeron tweedyi, or Tweedy's fleabane, is a perennial herb in the daisy family. It is native to the Rocky Mountains in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.
Chionophila tweedyi, or Tweedy's snowlover, is a perennial herb in the plantain family. It is native to Idaho and Montana in the western United States.
Gilia tweedyi, or Tweedy's gilia, is an annual plant in the phlox family. It is native to the northwestern United States.
