BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Tofieldia pusilla | Little False Asphodel 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Little false asphodel is a lily which branches from short rhizomes.
Ramets of the same genet may occur at some distance from each other [9].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Little false asphodel reproduces vegetatively.  Seed was produced freely
at one site, but no seedlings were found [2].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Little false asphodel occurred as a member of a stable tundra community.
It has been classified in the interior alpine zone of British Columbia
and the upper temperate life zone of Montana [8,11,12].  It grows in
wet, boggy soil, meadows, mossy streambanks, wet limestone grasslands,
on moist alpine ridges, and on a reticulate network of frost boils and
areas of unstable ground [2,5,9,11].  In a water sedge (Carex aquatilis)
association, little false asphodel was found in zones slightly drier
than the wet zone adjacent to standing water.  Its abundance increased
as the zones became slightly drier [7].  Other common plant associates
include other sedges (Carex spp.), willows (Salix spp.), and common
butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris).  Little false asphodel occurs at
elevations between 6,500 and 7,500 feet (2,100 and 2,420 m) in Montana
[8] and to at least 5,580 feet (1,700 m) in Alaska [6].



SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Little false asphodel flowers from late May to early July.  The majority
of seed is ripe in August [2].

Related categories for Species: Tofieldia pusilla | Little False Asphodel