[Wikipedia] Distribution, Uses: Distribution The plant is found in western Canada and the western United States from British Columbia to Saskatchewan, and south to California to New Mexico, with a few isolated populations in Nebraska and the Dakotas. It grows in a wide variety of habitats, including harsh environments such as rock fields in alpine climates in the Sierra Nevada, east of the crest of the Cascade Range of Washington and Oregon, scrubland and desert, and disturbed areas such as roadsides. Distributed over a wide range of elevations, from sea level to 4,000 metres (13,000 feet), it is found most often between 1,800 to 2,400 m (6,000 to 8,000 ft). Uses Some Plateau Indian tribes used this plant as a dressing for burns, wounds, and sores. (link added by Mary Ann Machi)