UW Burke Herbarium species comparison

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Potentilla breweri

Potentilla rivalis

Brewer's cinquefoil

brook cinquefoil, river cinquefoil
Habit Perennial from a sparingly branched crown and often a short rhizome, grayish-sericeous but not glandular, the stems 1-2.5 dm. tall. Spreading to erect annual or biennial from a strong taproot and simple crown, strongly pubescent; stem freely-branched and floriferous most of the length.
Leaves

Basal leaves pinnate, the leaflets 9-11, crowded, broadly obovate with a wedge-shaped base, 1-2 cm. long, cleft more that halfway to the midvein into linear divisions;

stipules ovate, 0.5-1.5 cm. long;

cauline leaves 2-3, greatly reduced.

Basal and lower cauline leaves mostly crowded-pinnate with 5 leaflets, the leaflets oblong-oblanceolate, coarsely serrate; upper leaves trifoliate, the leaflets narrower.
Flowers

Inflorescence an open, several-flowered cyme;

calyx sericeous, cup-shaped, up to 1.5 cm. broad in fruit, the 5 lobes lanceolate, interspersed with 5 linear, smaller bracteoles;

petals 5, yellow, obcordate, exceeding the sepals;

stamens 20;

pistils numerous;

style slender, sub-apical.

Inflorescence leafy-bracteate, many-flowered, diffuse, long-pedunculate;

calyx cup-shaped, 5-10 mm. broad at flowering, enlarging in fruit, the 5 lobes ovate-triangular, erect, longer than the tubular portion but shorter than the 5 elliptic-lanceolate bracteoles; petals 5, yellow, broadly oblanceolate, rounded, half as long as the sepals;

stamens mostly 10, sometimes 15;

pistils numerous;

styles apical, thickened at the base.
Fruits

Achene smooth, greenish, 1.3 mm. long.

Achenes yellow, ovoid-reniform, 0.8 mm. long.

Potentilla breweri

Potentilla rivalis
Flowering time June-August May-September
Habitat Moist meadows and stream banks to open slopes at middle to high elevations. Damp soil, especially along rivers and around lakes, ponds, and swamps at low elevations.
Distribution
Occurring east of the Cascades crest from central Washington south; central Washington to California, east to Nevada.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to central North America, and further east to the northeastern U.S.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Native Native
Conservation status Threatened in Washington (WANHP) Not of concern
Sibling taxa
P. anserina, P. argentea, P. biennis, 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. norvegica, P. pensylvanica, P. recta, P. supina, P. villosa
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the University of Washington's Burke Herbarium.



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