Appendix H: U.S. Forest Service Region 2 Sensitive Plant Species Known 

from the Black Hills with Rationale for Further Analysis

Scientific Name/

Common Name/

Plant Code

Global rank;

SD State rank;

WY State rank Black Hills Distribution and Habitat

Known to 

Occur in 

Project 

Area

Suitable 

Habitat in 

Project Area

Analyzed 

Further

Botrychium campestre/

prairie moonwort, Iowa 

moonwort/

BOCA5

G3/G4;

SD-S1;

WY-S1

Botrychium campestre ranges from the Great Lakes, across 

Iowa and Nebraska to eastern Colorado and northward to 

Alberta and Saskatchewan. Rangewide the species occurs 

primarily on well-drained soils in non-forested habitats, 

occasionally under shrubs in or at the margins of these 

habitats. Seven occurrences have been confirmed on BKF 

lands. Additional sites exist on private land and at Wind Cave 

National Park. Botrychium campestre is extremely 

inconspicuous. Rangewide, it is considered a grassland 

species associated with sandy grassland habitats in prairies, 

dunes, railroad sidings, and fields over limestone. Black Hills 

sites occur on substrates with at least some component of 

limestone and are primarily in open grassland habitats usually 

with high forb diversity and sometimes with a high percentage 

of bare and rocky soils. Little bluestem (Schizachyrium 

scoparium) and western snowberry (Symphoricarpos 

occidentalis) occur at the majority of sites. Black Hills 

occurrences range in elevation from 3,870 to 5,640 feet.

Yes Unknown 

because 

suitable 

habitat is not 

yet defined; 

analyzed in 

effects 

analysis

Yes
Black Hills National Forest Travel Management Plan

Scientific Name/

Common Name/

Plant Code

Global rank;

SD State rank;

WY State rank Black Hills Distribution and Habitat

Known to 

Occur in 

Project 

Area

Suitable 

Habitat in 

Project Area

Analyzed 

Further

Botrychium lineare/

narrowleaf grapefern, 

slender moonwort/

BOLI7

G2?;

SD-S1;

WY-S1

Botrychium lineare is historically known from California and 

Utah and currently from Colorado northward to Washington and 

Montana and Alaska and the Yukon Territory. Western 

populations of the species occur primarily on limestone 

substrates in a variety of habitats including heavily forested 

sites and grassy meadows, fen-like seeps and gravelly 

roadsides. Five occurrences have been confirmed on BKF 

lands. All sites occur in open conditions on limestone substrate.

Two sites are located on old (estimated 15-25 years) native 

surface roadbeds. A third site is located adjacent to a gravel 

roadbed in open grassland. A fourth site, located on a large, 

open, north-facing, little bluestem dominated hillside, is not 

associated with any road development. A fifth site, also not 

associated with any road development, is located in an open 

forb dominated area on the bank of a small perennial stream.

Elsewhere in its range, this species has often been 

documented in areas of road disturbances and other human 

and natural disturbances. Black Hills occurrences range in 

elevation from 4,200 (in Wind Cave National Park) to 6,160 

feet.

Yes Unknown 

because 

suitable 

habitat is not 

yet defined; 

analyzed in 

effects 

analysis

Yes

Carex alopecoidea/

foxtail sedge/

CAAL8

G5;

SD-S2;

WY-S2

Carex alopecoidea is widely distributed from eastern to central 

Canada, the northeastern United States, the Great Lakes 

region south to Tennessee, and west to North Dakota and the 

Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. Rangewide, habitat 

includes seasonally saturated meadows and openings in 

alluvial woods and stream banks, usually over calcareous 

substrates. In the Black Hills, Carex alopecoidea is currently 

known from two general areas: The Cement Ridge area along 

the South Dakota-Wyoming border, and in the Bear Lodge 

Mountains in Wyoming. Carex alopecoidea is primarily found 

along open, perennial streams, often with old beaver dams or 

ponds. Occurrences have also been found in spruce dominated 

riparian areas and in drainages with dense shrub cover. Plants 

are primarily documented in the transitional areas between 

saturated soils and the more mesic upland areas. Black Hills 

occurrences range in elevation from 3,840 to 5,900 feet.

Yes Yes Yes
Scientific Name/

Common Name/

Plant Code

Global rank;

SD State rank;

WY State rank Black Hills Distribution and Habitat

Known to 

Occur in 

Project 

Area

Suitable 

Habitat in 

Project Area

Analyzed 

Further

Cypripedium 

parviflorum/

lesser yellow lady’s 

slipper/

CYPA19

G5;

SD-S3;

WY-S2

Cypripedium parviflorum is primarily circumboreal in distribution 

and rangewide is generally found in shady deciduous and 

mixed woodlands near streams, shrublands, swamps, bogs, 

and wet forests. Habitat in the Black Hills includes stream 

banks under both spruce and deciduous overstories, moist 

cliffs (usually north-facing), and moist areas/seeps under white 

spruce (Picea glauca) or mixed conifer forest. Occasionally, 

found on upper mesic forest slopes. Black Hills occurrences 

range in elevation from 3,500 to 6,500 feet.

Yes Yes Yes

Epipactis gigantea/

giant helleborine/

EPGI

G4;

SD-S1;

WY-S1

Epipactis gigantea occurs in western North America from 

British Colombia south to California, and east to Texas. 

Rangewide, Epipactis gigantea is known from wet meadows, 

seepage slopes, and the base of cliffs along streams and 

rivers. In the colder northern portions of its range, the species 

may be confined to warm springs habitats. In the Black Hills it 

is known only from Cascade Springs in Fall River County, 

South Dakota, at 3,400 feet. It is likely dependent upon the 

constant moisture and warmth provided by the springs. No 

other warm springs are known on Forest Service-administered 

land in the Black Hills.

Yes No No – there are 

no proposed 

routes in the 

Cascade area.

Habitat 

elsewhere is 

highly unlikely 

due to the lack 

of warm 

springs.

Lycopodium 

complanatum/

trailing clubmoss/

LYCO3

G5;

SD-S1;

WY-S1

Lycopodium complanatum is circumboreal and common across 

northern latitudes, but disjunct or sparse at the southern limits 

of the species’ distribution, such as in the Black Hills.

Rangewide, it is restricted to moist (not saturated) 

microhabitats within boreal plant communities in ravines, steep 

drainages, and on moist streamside benches. Nine known 

occurrences on BKF lands. These occurrences are located in 

the northern Black Hills on shaded, north-facing, white spruce 

dominated slopes often with paper birch (Betula papyrifera) or 

quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides). Black Hills occurrences 

range in elevation from 4,960 to 6,340 feet.

Yes Yes Yes
Black Hills National Forest Travel Management Plan

Scientific Name/

Common Name/

Plant Code

Global rank;

SD State rank;

WY State rank Black Hills Distribution and Habitat

Known to 

Occur in 

Project 

Area

Suitable 

Habitat in 

Project Area

Analyzed 

Further

Platanthera orbiculata/

lesser roundleaved 

orchid/

PLOR4

G5;

SD-S2;

WY-S1

Platanthera orbiculata is endemic to the boreal regions of 

northern North America, with a more southern distribution in the 

eastern United States. Black Hills occurrences are found 

primarily on shady, north-facing slopes in paper birch/hardwood 

or white spruce forests on moist, rich, humus soil. Black Hills 

occurrences range in elevation from 4,350 to 6,150 feet.

Yes Yes Yes

Salix candida/

sage willow/

SACA4

G5;

SD-S1;

WY-S2

Salix candida is an obligate wetland species known to occur 

from eastern Canada to Alaska and across the northern United 

States. In the Black Hills it is limited to one verified extant 

occurrence west of Deerfield (McIntosh Fen, 6,000 feet). There 

is also a historical collection for the general area “from Loring 

Siding to Minnekahta” (unknown if the historical collection is 

from private or Forest Service land). Habitat includes cold seep 

or spring-fed saturated substrates produced by unusual 

hydrologic conditions where sedimentary layers of the 

Limestone Plateau intersect impermeable schist or shale of the 

crystalline Central Core. Community type associated with the 

occurrence is wet meadow/fen.

Yes Yes Yes

Salix serissima/

autumn willow/

SASE2

G4;

SD-S1;

WY-S1

Salix serissima occurs primarily in northern boreal bogs 

throughout its range and is a disjunct relic in the Black Hills.

Four known occurrences on BKF lands in fens and wet 

meadows often dominated by Carex spp. and other Salix spp.

Known from McIntosh Fen, Middle Fork of Boxelder Creek, 

Nahant and Silver Creek. Appears to occur in the same unique 

hydrologic conditions as Salix candida. Black Hills occurrences 

range in elevation from 5,620 to 6,000 feet.

Yes Yes Yes

Sanguinaria 

canadensis/

bloodroot/

SACA13

G5;

SD-S4;

WY-N/A

Sanguinaria canadensis occurs in moist forests from Nova 

Scotia south to Florida and west to Manitoba and Kansas. In 

the Black Hills it occupies floodplains, forested terraces, 

drainage bottoms, and north-facing footslopes in open, rich 

hardwood plant communities. The currently known range in the 

Black Hills is limited to the northeast portion of the Black Hills, 

from the east side of Spearfish Canyon to west of Tilford. Black 

Hills occurrences range in elevation from 3,940 to 5,000 feet.

Yes Yes Yes
Scientific Name/

Common Name/

Plant Code

Global rank;

SD State rank;

WY State rank Black Hills Distribution and Habitat

Known to 

Occur in 

Project 

Area

Suitable 

Habitat in 

Project Area

Analyzed 

Further

Viburnum opulus var. 

americanum/

highbush cranberry/

VIOPA2

G5T5;

SD-SNR/SU;

WY-S2

Viburnum opulus var. americanum is widely distributed across 

north central North America. In the Black Hills it occurs at midelevations in wet, shaded habitats along streams, springs and 

canyon bottoms. The large majority of documented Black Hills 

occurrences are in drainage bottoms or low slopes with moist 

soil conditions with partial shading. Currently known sites are 

primarily associated with paper birch/ironwood (Ostrya 

virginiana) and paper birch/hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) 

communities, with or without white spruce or quaking aspen. A 

few sites are in ponderosa pine/oak (Pinus ponderosa/Quercus 

macrocarpa). Paper birch is present at almost all currently 

known sites. Black Hills occurrences range in elevation from 

3,800 to 5,700 feet.

Yes Yes Yes

Viola selkirkii/

great-spurred violet/

VISE2

G5?;

SD-S1;

WY-N/A

Viola selkirkii is a circumboreal herbaceous species, and 

rangewide it is locally abundant in specialized microsites in 

coniferous and deciduous forests. Thirteen known occurrences 

on BKF lands with additional occurrences documented from 

Custer State Park and Mt. Rushmore National Monument.

Black Hills occurrences are restricted to a concentrated area 

(about 36 square miles) of the central core on igneous or 

metamorphic bedrock. Microhabitats are often moist, cold air 

drainages, in shaded to open areas, and often in the vicinity of 

granitic rock outcrops. White spruce is usually the dominant 

overstory with a variable understory. All currently known 

occurrences on Forest Service lands are located within the 

Black Elk Wilderness and/or the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve.

Black Hills occurrences range in elevation from 5,240 to 7,000 

feet.

Yes Yes Yes

Note:

Codes are from the PLANTS Database at http://plants.usda.gov/

Rank is from Natureserve at http://www.natureserve.org

Distribution and Habitat is from the following sources:

USDA Forest Service. 2008. Black Hills National Forest Plant Database. Unpublished Database. Updated April 2008.

USDA Forest Service. 2005. Phase II Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the 1997 Land and Resource Management Plan. Black 

Hills National Forest. Custer, South Dakota. Available on-line at http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/blackhills/projects/planning/index.shtml