Alpine Rattlesnakeroot (Nabalus boottii DC.)

↑Habitat

Alpine rattlesnakeroot is found in mountains of the northeast, above 1,000m (3,280ft) in elevation. Natural habitats include moist tundra lawns, streamsides, steep upper slopes of glacial valleys, cliffs. Also found in anthropogenic alpine habitats including along trails and especially around abandoned concrete structures, and also gravel parking lots.

This plant is mostly found in the alpine zone above the tree line, but it can occasionally occur in the subalpine zone well below the tree line. It is rare and only found in a few areas of the northeastern US, from the highest peaks of the Adirondacks, through northern VT and NH into northwestern Maine. The most robust populations of this plant are around Mount Washington, which is the highest mountain in the region.

As with most Nabalus, this species relies on disturbance to establish, but the exact types of disturbance it prefers are not known. It often grows in habitats where wind and ice damage, and erosion are common.

This plant's relationship to humans is complex. Human-induced global warming threatens to greatly reduce its habitat on a broad scale, and since many of its populations exist in isolated alpine habitats, some of them may be eliminated. It is also directly threatened by trampling when people hike through its habitat. However it has also taken advantage of some human changes to habitat.

↑Links & External Resources

• Prenanthes boottii (alpine rattlesnakeroot) | USDA PLANTS Database (About This Site)

• Nabalus boottii | Biota of North America Project (BONAP) (About This Site)

• Nabalus boottii | Go Botany (About This Site)

• Prenanthes boottii | NatureServe Explorer (About This Site)

• Prenanthes boottii | Flora of North America (About This Site)

• Nabalus boottii DC. | Plants of the World Online (POWO) (About This Site)