Burke: Potentilla argentea vs. Potentilla norvegica

	Potentilla argentea	Potentilla norvegica
	hoary cinquefoil, silver cinquefoil	Norwegian cinquefoil, rough cinquefoil
Habit	Herbaceous perennial from a woody base, the numerous stems 1.5-3 dm. tall, covered with a gray pubescence.	Taprooted annual or perennial, the stems erect to ascending, 3-6 dm. tall, simple to branching, often floriferous for much of its length, stiff-hairy below to sub-woolly above, not glandular.
Leaves	Leaves mainly cauline, 5-10 per stem, palmately divided, the leaflets 5, 1-2 cm. long, oblanceolate, with coarse serrate teeth over half way to the mid-vein; stipules lanceolate, entire, 4-8 mm. long.	Leaves alternate, mainly cauline; stipules well-developed, ovate, usually strongly toothed; leaflets usually 3, broadly ovate to obovate below to narrowly oblong above, 3-6 cm. long, serrate with rounded teeth, pubescent.
Flowers	Inflorescence open, branched, many-flowered, leafy-bracteate; calyx 4-6 mm. broad, silky, the 5 lobes ovate-lanceolate, 2-3 mm. long, alternating with linear, shorter bracteoles; petals 5, yellow, obovate with a wedge-shaped base, equaling the sepals; stamens 20; pistils numerous, the styles thickened and glandular at the base, tapered upward, attached to the end of the achene.	Inflorescence a rather compact cyme with a long peduncle; calyx 7-11 mm. broad, the 5 sepals broadly lanceolate, erect, the 5 bracteoles lanceolate and about equal in length to the sepals; petals yellow, broadly obovate, slightly shorter than the sepals; stamens usually 20; pistils numerous; style terminal, thickened basally.
Fruits	Achene 0.6-0.8 mm. long, the same length as the style.	Achenes light brown, 1.0-1.3 mm. long ovate, flattened.

	Potentilla argentea	Potentilla norvegica
Flowering time	June-July	May-August
Habitat	Sandy or gravely soil, typically where disturbed.	Usually in moist soil, often along irrigation ditches or in waste places.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Oregon, east across the northern U.S. and Canada to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced from Eurasia	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	P. anserina, P. biennis, P. breweri, P. drummondii, P. flabellifolia, P. glaucophylla, P. gracilis, P. hyparctica, P. jepsonii, P. newberryi, P. nivea, P. norvegica, P. pensylvanica, P. recta, P. rivalis, P. supina, P. villosa	P. anserina, P. argentea, P. biennis, P. breweri, P. drummondii, P. flabellifolia, P. glaucophylla, P. gracilis, P. hyparctica, P. jepsonii, P. newberryi, P. nivea, P. pensylvanica, P. recta, P. rivalis, P. supina, P. villosa
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Potentilla argentea

Potentilla norvegica

hoary cinquefoil, silver cinquefoil

Norwegian cinquefoil, rough cinquefoil

Habit

Herbaceous perennial from a woody base, the numerous stems 1.5-3 dm. tall, covered with a gray pubescence.

Taprooted annual or perennial, the stems erect to ascending, 3-6 dm. tall, simple to branching, often floriferous for much of its length, stiff-hairy below to sub-woolly above, not glandular.

Leaves

Leaves mainly cauline, 5-10 per stem, palmately divided, the leaflets 5, 1-2 cm. long, oblanceolate, with coarse serrate teeth over half way to the mid-vein;

stipules lanceolate, entire, 4-8 mm. long.

Leaves alternate, mainly cauline;

stipules well-developed, ovate, usually strongly toothed;

leaflets usually 3, broadly ovate to obovate below to narrowly oblong above, 3-6 cm. long, serrate with rounded teeth, pubescent.

Flowers

Inflorescence open, branched, many-flowered, leafy-bracteate;

calyx 4-6 mm. broad, silky, the 5 lobes ovate-lanceolate, 2-3 mm. long, alternating with linear, shorter bracteoles;

petals 5, yellow, obovate with a wedge-shaped base, equaling the sepals;

stamens 20;

pistils numerous, the styles thickened and glandular at the base, tapered upward, attached to the end of the achene.

Inflorescence a rather compact cyme with a long peduncle;

calyx 7-11 mm. broad, the 5 sepals broadly lanceolate, erect, the 5 bracteoles lanceolate and about equal in length to the sepals;