Arnica cordifolia, heartleaf arnica
Reed, William R. 1993. Arnica cordifolia, heartleaf arnica. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/arncor
| Abbreviation | Common Name | Scientific Name | Classification | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plants | ||||
| ARNCOR | heartleaf arnica | Arnica cordifolia | Life Form: Plants/Forb Kingdom: Plantae Class: Dicot Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Genus: Arnica | Fed. Protected: No Nativity: Native Invasiveness: Noninvasive |
Taxonomy
The scientific name of heartleaf arnica is Arnica cordifolia Hook. (Asteraceae) [15,34].
Synonyms
- Arnica cordifolia var. cordifolia
- Arnica cordifolia var. pumila (Rydb.) Maquire [21,29]
Other Common Names
heart-leaved arnica
General Distribution
Heartleaf arnica is found from Alaska east to Saskatchewan and south to northern Mexico and Nebraska [34,44]. A disjunct population occurs on the Keweenaw Peninsula of northern Michigan [18].
States and Provinces
- United States: AL AZ CA CO ID MI MT NE NM ND OR SD UT WA WY
- Canada: AB BC SK YT
- Mexico
Site Characteristics
Heartleaf arnica occurs in boreal and cool temperate climates. It is commonly found in open-canopy coniferous forests on high elevation water-shedding sites. It often inhabits exposed, moderately dry mineral soils, but occurs on a variety of soil types [25]. In California it is found from 3,500 to 10,000 feet (1,050-3,000 m), in dry to moist open or wooded places [33]. In Utah it is found from 5,000 to 11,000 feet (1,525-3,355 m) [44]. Occurrence increases with elevation. In the Madison Range of Montana it is the primary ground cover in subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) forests above 9,000 feet (2,723 m) [36].
Plant Communities
Heartleaf arnica is a dominant ground cover in many forest communities of the West. Publications listing heartleaf arnica as a dominant or indicator species are:
- Classification of the forest vegetation of Wyoming [1]
- Fire ecology of the forest habitat types of central Idaho [10]
- Forest vegetation of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests in central Colorado: a habitat type classification [20]
- Forest vegetation of Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming: a habitat type classification [22]
- Plant associations of the Fremont National Forest [23]
- Forest vegetation of the Gunnison and parts of the Uncompahgre National Forests: a preliminary habitat type classification [26]
Common plant associates of heartleaf arnica include huckleberry (Vaccinium spp.), sweetscented bedstraw (Galium triflorum), queencup beadlily (Clintonia uniflora), twinflower (Linnaea borealis), pussytoes (Antennaria spp.), timber milkvetch (Astragalus miser), elk sedge (Carex geyeri), and bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata).
Botanical Description
Heartleaf arnica is a native, perennial herb 6 to 24 inches (15-60 cm) tall, with upright stems arising singly from long, slender, creeping rhizomes [18]. Rhizomes grow laterally 0.4 to 0.8 inches (1-2 cm) below the soil surface [7]. Root depths of 24 inches (60.9 cm) have been recorded in Montana [35].
Heartleaf arnica plant.
The life span of heartleaf arnica is estimated at 12 years [6].
Raunkiaer Life Form (Raunkiaer 1934)
- Geophyte
Seasonal Development
Heartleaf arnica flowers from May through August in California [33] and May through September in Colorado [13]. In Montana, flowering begins in early June, fruits ripen in mid-July, and seeds are dispersed at the end of July [40].
Regeneration Processes
Sexual: Heartleaf arnica reproduces by wind-dispersed seed [6,7]. In central Idaho, Kramer and Johnson [27] found 25 percent of heartleaf arnica seed was in the upper 2 inches (5 cm) of soil, while 75 percent was 2 to 5 inches (5-10 cm) below the soil surface.
Asexual: Heartleaf arnica sprouts from rhizomes [7,24,32].
Successional Status
Heartleaf arnica is tolerant of both sun and shade, and may be present from initial to late seres [42,47]. Geier-Hayes found it increased the first 2 years following logging in a Douglas-fir/white spiraea (Pseudotsuga menziesii/Spiraea betulifolia) habitat type in central Idaho [17]. This was probably due to mass flowering, which occurs 1 to 2 years after disturbance [41]. Heartleaf arnica importance apparently decreases within a few years after disturbance-induced mass flowering and increases again in later seres, possibly through vegetative reproduction. Steele and Geier-Hayes [46] found it reached highest coverage in late seral stages of the grand fir/globe huckleberry (Abies grandis/Vaccinium globulare) habitat type of central Idaho. It is a near-climax indicator of that habitat type.
Immediate Fire Effects
Heartleaf arnica is top-killed by fire. Rhizomes often survive. It is rated as susceptible [7,31] to intermediate [24] in resistance to fire damage. This probably varies according to how far below the soil surface rhizomes are buried.
Postfire Regeneration Strategy (Stickney 1989)
- Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
- Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)
- Secondary colonizer - on-site seed
Fire Adaptations
Heartleaf arnica is moderately fire resistant [31,37], typically sprouting from surviving rhizomes after fire [7,24,32]. It also regenerates from wind-dispersed seed [7,45], and from seed resulting from mass flowering at postfire year 1 or 2 [42].
Plant Response to Fire
Heartleaf arnica sprouts from rhizomes after top-kill by fire. It is apparently reduced by "high intensity" fires [24,30] but responds to "less intense" fires through rapid initial vegetative regrowth accompanied by heavy flowering and seedling establishment [24,42]. This is typically followed by a decline in cover and frequency within a few years [17]. Heartleaf arnica had the highest frequency and cover of all forbs 2 years following a severe fire (greater than 90 percent mortality of all trees) in a spruce-fir (Picea-Abies) ecosystem in Wyoming [3]. Frequency and cover values increased for 2 years following logging and broadcast burning in a Douglas-fir habitat type in Idaho. This trend was followed by a decline to 0 percent cover by postfire year 10 [17].
Heartleaf arnica sprouts in flower in postfire year 1, following the 2017 Park Creek Fire near Lincoln, Montana. Common beargrass is sprouting to the right of the log. Image by Garon Smith, used with permission.
Heartleaf arnica sprouts in flower in postfire year 1, following the 2017 Park Creek Fire near Lincoln, Montana. Common beargrass is sprouting to the right of the log.
According to Barth [4], light, moisture, and soil depth are important factors determining the postfire density of heartleaf arnica.
On ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir communities in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon, heartleaf arnica cover and frequency were higher on sites that had been thinned 6 years previously than on prescribed burned, thinned-and-burned, or control sites. Heartleaf arnica was determined to be an indicator species for thinned sites (P≤0.05). For further information on the effects of thinning and burning treatments on heartleaf arnica and 48 other species, see the Research Project Summary of Youngblood and others' [50] study.
The Research Paper and Research Project Summary of Hamilton's [48,49] studies, and Lyon's Research Paper also provide information on prescribed fire and postfire response of many plant species, including heartleaf arnica.
Fire Regimes
For fire regime information, search FEIS for this species by entering the species name or acronym on the home page and selecting “Fire Regime” as the publication type.
Fire Management Considerations
No entry.
Federal Status
None
Other Status
No entry.
Importance to Wildlife and Livestock
In northern Utah heartleaf arnica is an important constituent of summer diets of mule deer and elk [9]. Deschamps and Urness [12] found it comprised 24 percent of summer deer diets in mature lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests in Utah.
Palatability and Nutritional Value
In Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, the palatability of heartleaf arnica is rated poor to fair for cattle, fair to good for sheep, and poor for horses [13].
Heartleaf arnica is rated fair in nutritional value for pronghorn, upland game birds, small mammals, and small nongame mammals. It is rated fair to good in nutritional value for elk and deer [13].
Cover Value
Heartleaf arnica provides poor cover for wildlife [13].
Value for Rehabilitation or Restoration of Disturbed Sites
Heartleaf arnica has low resistance to repeated human trampling [8,37].
Other Uses
No entry.
Other Management Considerations
Heartleaf arnica showed a substantial increase after heavy thinning of lodgepole pine stands in Utah. Production increased from 6.05 pounds per acre (1.1 kg/ha) before treatment to 83.6 pounds per acre (15.2 kg/ha) 4 years after treatment [2].
Heartleaf arnica cover increased from 0.3 percent to 5.0 percent following clearcutting in a subalpine forest in central Colorado [11].
Table A1— Forest and range ecosystems, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) physiographic regions, Kuchler plant associations, Society for American Foresters (SAF) forest cover types, and Society for Rangeland Management (SRM) rangeland cover types in which this species occurs.
Forest and Range Ecosystems (Garrison et al. 1977)
- FRES11 Spruce - fir
- FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
- FRES19 Aspen - birch
- FRES20 Douglas-fir
- FRES21 Ponderosa pine
- FRES22 Western white pine
- FRES23 Fir - spruce
- FRES25 Larch
- FRES26 Lodgepole pine
- FRES28 Western hardwoods
- FRES29 Sagebrush
- FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
- FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
- FRES36 Mountain grasslands
- FRES38 Plains grasslands
- FRES44 Alpine
BLM Physiographic Regions (Bernard and Brown 1977)
- 1 Northern Pacific Border
- 2 Cascade Mountains
- 3 Southern Pacific Border
- 4 Sierra Mountains
- 5 Columbia Plateau
- 6 Upper Basin and Range
- 7 Lower Basin and Range
- 8 Northern Rocky Mountains
- 9 Middle Rocky Mountains
- 10 Wyoming Basin
- 11 Southern Rocky Mountains
- 12 Colorado Plateau
- 13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
- 14 Great Plains
- 15 Black Hills Uplift
- 16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
Kuchler Plant Associations (Kuchler 1964)
- K007 Red fir forest
- K008 Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
- K011 Western ponderosa forest
- K012 Douglas-fir forest
- K013 Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
- K015 Western spruce - fir forest
- K016 Eastern ponderosa forest
- K017 Black Hills pine forest
- K018 Pine - Douglas-fir forest
- K021 Southwestern spruce - fir forest
- K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
- K029 California mixed evergreen forest
- K037 Mountain-mahogany - oak scrub
- K052 Alpine meadows and barren
- K055 Sagebrush steppe
- K098 Northern floodplain forest
SAF Cover Types (Eyre 1980)
- 201 White spruce
- 204 Black spruce
- 205 Mountain hemlock
- 206 Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
- 207 Red fir
- 208 Whitebark pine
- 209 Bristlecone pine
- 256 California mixed subalpine
- 210 Interior Douglas-fir
- 211 White fir
- 212 Western larch
- 213 Grand fir
- 215 Western white pine
- 216 Blue spruce
- 217 Aspen
- 218 Lodgepole pine
- 219 Limber pine
- 224 Western hemlock
- 228 Western redcedar
- 237 Interior ponderosa pine
SRM Rangeland Cover Types (Shiflet 1994)
- No entry.
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