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bigflower cinquefoil, leafy drymocallis or wood beauty

Habit Herbs, shrubs, or subshrubs.
Caudex branches

short to elongate.

Stems

tufted to loosely spaced, (1.2–)1.5–3.5(–4.5) dm;

base (1.5–)2–3 mm diam., ± densely septate-glandular.

Leaves

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).

alternate, rarely opposite, pinnately compound, sometimes simple or palmately compound;

stipules present, rarely absent.

Inflorescences

5–15-flowered, leafy, congested to ± open, 1/6–1/2 of stem, narrow to wide, branch angles 15–30(–40)°.

Pedicels

1–12 mm, short-hairy, septate-glandular.

Flowers

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.

torus usually enlarged, sometimes small or absent;

carpels 1–260(–450), distinct, free, styles distinct, rarely connate (Roseae);

ovules 1(or 2), collateral (Rubeae) or superposed (Fallugia, Filipendula).

Fruits

achenes or aggregated achenes sometimes with fleshy, urn-shaped hypanthium or enlarged torus, sometimes aggregated drupelets;

styles persistent or deciduous, not elongate (elongate but not plumose in Geum).

Achenes

light brown, 1 mm.

x

= 7(8).

Drymocallis fissa

Rosaceae subfam. rosoideae

Phenology Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat Sagebrush slopes, open forests, stream banks, often in rocky or moderately disturbed sites
Elevation 1600–3000 m (5200–9800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; SD; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
North America; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Bermuda; Eurasia; Africa; Atlantic Islands; Indian Ocean Islands; Pacific Islands; Australia
Discussion

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.)

Variation in the number of genera in subfam. Rosoideae is due to differences in generic delimitation between D. Potter et al. (2007) and the authors of some Potentilleae genera. Cyanogenic glycosides and sorbitol are absent in the subfamily.

Tribes 6, genera 28–35, species ca. 1600 (6 tribes, 26 genera, 302 species, including 1 hybrid, in the flora)

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 9, p. 284. FNA vol. 9, p. 23. Author: Luc Brouillet.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Drymocallis Rosaceae
Sibling taxa
D. arguta, D. arizonica, D. ashlandica, D. campanulata, D. convallaria, D. cuneifolia, D. deseretica, D. glabrata, D. glandulosa, D. hansenii, D. lactea, D. micropetala, D. pseudorupestris, D. rhomboidea
Subordinate taxa
Synonyms Potentilla fissa
Name authority (Nuttall) Rydberg: Monogr. N. Amer. Potentilleae, 197. (1898) Arnott: Botany, 107. (1832)
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