Drymocallis fissa
Drymocallis lactea
bigflower cinquefoil, leafy drymocallis or wood beauty
Nevada cinquefoil, Sierran woodbeauty
short to elongate.
short.
tufted to loosely spaced, (1.2–)1.5–3.5(–4.5) dm;
base (1.5–)2–3 mm diam., ± densely septate-glandular.
tufted, (0.3–)1.5–6(–6.5) dm;
base 1–2.5 mm diam., not or sparsely, sometimes moderately, septate-glandular.
sparsely to moderately hairy;
basal (3–)7–19 cm, leaflet pairs (4–)5–6(–10; additional reduced leaflets sometimes interspersed);
terminal leaflet usually broadly obovate-cuneate, sometimes elliptic, (1–)1.5–3.5(–5) × (1–)1.5–3(–3.5) cm, teeth single or double, 5–13 per side, apex rounded to obtuse;
cauline 1–3, well developed, leaflet pairs 4–6(–10).
usually sparsely to moderately hairy, sometimes glabrate;
basal (2–)5–20(–30) cm, leaflet pairs (2–)3–4(–5);
terminal leaflet broadly obovate to cuneate, 1–4 × 0.7–3.5 cm, teeth usually single, 4–10(–14) per side, apex usually rounded to obtuse, rarely acute;
cauline 1–2, reduced, leaflet pairs 2–3.
5–15-flowered, leafy, congested to ± open, 1/6–1/2 of stem, narrow to wide, branch angles 15–30(–40)°.
(2–)5–30(–50)-flowered, not leafy, open, (1/6–)1/5–1/2(–4/5) of stem, narrow to wide, branch angles 10–40(–50)°.
1–12 mm, short-hairy, septate-glandular.
2–10 (proximal to 30) mm, predominantly short-hairy, sometimes velutinous, not or sparsely, sometimes moderately, septate-glandular.
opening widely;
epicalyx bractlets linear-oblanceolate, 3–7 × 1–2 mm;
sepals spreading, 6–10 mm, apex acute to acuminate;
petals overlapping, spreading, yellow, broadly obovate, 7–11 × 5–11 mm, equal to or exceeding sepals;
filaments 1.5–4.5 mm, anthers (0.7–)1–1.4 mm;
styles thickened, 1 mm.
opening widely;
epicalyx bractlets linear-lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 2–5 × 0.5–1.5 mm;
sepals spreading, 3–8(–9) mm, apex usually acute, sometimes obtuse and apiculate;
petals ± overlapping, spreading, cream-white to bright yellow, broadly obovate, (3–)4–8(–10) × 3–8 mm, usually longer than, rarely equal to, sepals;
filaments 1–3(–3.5) mm, anthers 0.6–1 mm;
styles thickened, 1 mm.
light brown, 1 mm.
light brown, 1 mm.
Drymocallis fissa
Drymocallis lactea
Drymocallis fissa is distinctive in its relatively numerous leaflets (often with additional smaller ones), large flowers, and large, elongate anthers. It is most abundant in the Colorado Front Range, extending into the Medicine Bow Mountains of Wyoming. Outlying populations occur at least as far north as the Bighorn Mountains of northern Wyoming and the Black Hills of South Dakota. Tentatively included here are large-anthered populations from the eastern Uintah Mountains of Utah, though these often have fewer leaflets and smaller flowers of unknown color; they may represent a unique taxon worthy of separate recognition. Possible collections of D. fissa from New Mexico, including the type of Potentilla fissa var. major Torrey & A. Gray, are of uncertain placement in that they combine features of D. arguta, D. arizonica, and D. fissa. Reports from other states, including Montana, are probably all based on misidentified specimens.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
Drymocallis lactea has had a well-established identity as Potentilla glandulosa var. (or subsp.) nevadensis; however, the epithet lactea has priority at species rank and avoids possible confusion with P. nevadensis Boissier. D. D. Keck (in J. Clausen et al. 1940) based his concept of P. glandulosa subsp. nevadensis on white-petaled plants with narrow inflorescences, the common form in the central Sierra Nevada and south. His map and annotations, however, include populations with yellow petals and widely branched inflorescences from northern California and adjacent Oregon. The two extremes merge in the northern Sierra Nevada, and populations in the North Coast Ranges of California also are problematic; the extremes are accordingly treated here as varieties of a single species. The inclusion by Keck of Washington in the species range might have been based on specimens here assigned to P. pseudorupestris.
Drymocallis lactea can be distinguished from sympatric species by its relatively large, overlapping petals, non-leafy inflorescences, and singly toothed leaflets. Pedicels and distal stems are usually densely short-hairy with relatively few or no glandular hairs (in contrast to D. pseudorupestris), and septate glands are usually absent from stem bases (in contrast to D. hansenii). The distinction between D. lactea and D. pseudorupestris breaks down at the margin of the species range in Nevada and Oregon.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Inflorescences narrow, branch angles 10–20°; petals cream-white to pale yellowish; pedicels and stems not or sparsely septate-glandular. | var. lactea |
1. Inflorescences wide, branch angles mostly 20–40°; petals usually pale to bright yellow; pedicels and stems sometimes moderately septate-glandular. | var. austiniae |
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