Potentilla anglica
Potentilla nana
English cinquefoil, potentille d'angleterre, trailing cinquefoil, trailing tormentil, wood cinquefoil
arctic cinquefoil, dwarf cinquefoil
soon becoming prostrate, ± flagelliform, usually openly branched, eventually rooting at some nodes, (0.3–)1.5–7+ dm.
ascending to erect, 0.1–0.5(–0.7) dm, lengths 1–2 times basal leaves.
± persistent, ternate or palmate, 2–10(–12) cm;
petiole 1–7(–8) cm, long hairs sparse to abundant, appressed, 0.5–1 mm, stiff, glands absent;
leaflets 3–5, central ± obovate to cuneate, 1–3(–3.5) × 0.8–2(–2.5) cm, distal ± 1/2 of margin incised 1/4–1/3(–1/2) to midvein, teeth 2–4 per side, surfaces similar, green, sparsely to moderately hairy.
not in ranks, ternate, 1–5 cm;
stipules: apex acute;
petiole 0.5–3.5 cm, long hairs sparse to abundant, ascending to spreading, 0.5–2 mm, ± soft, glands sparse to common;
leaflets 3, central obovate, 0.5–2 × 0.5–1 cm, petiolule 0–1 mm, margins revolute, not lobed, distal 1/2–2/3 evenly incised ± 1/2 to midvein, teeth 3–4(–6) per side, surfaces ± similar, green (paler abaxially), hairs sparse to abundant, 0.8–1.2 mm, glands sparse to common.
2–3(–4) proximal to 1st flowering or branching node, usually well expanded at anthesis, usually ternate, 2–6(–10) cm;
petiole 0.3–4(–8) cm;
leaflets (3–)5, ± resembling or narrower than those of basal leaves, narrowly cuneate, 1–2(–3.5) × 0.8–2(–2.5) cm, apex rounded to obtuse.
solitary flowers at stolon nodes.
1(–2)-flowered.
(1–)3–10(–17) cm.
straight, 0.2–1.5 cm in flower, to 5 cm in fruit.
4(–5)-merous;
epicalyx bractlets narrowly elliptic to oblong or ovate, 3–4(–7) × 1–1.5 mm, smaller than to slightly larger than sepals;
hypanthium 2–4 mm diam.;
sepals (3–)4–6 mm, apex broadly acute or acuminate;
petals 6–9 × 5–9 mm, apex ± retuse;
stamens 15–20, filaments 0.8–1.2 mm, anthers 0.8–1.2 mm;
carpels 20–50, styles 0.9–1.5 mm.
epicalyx bractlets oblong or ovate, 2.5–5 × 1.5–3.5 mm, margins revolute;
hypanthium 3–3.5 mm diam.;
sepals 2.5–5 mm, apex ± acute;
petals pale yellow, 4–8 × 4–6 mm;
filaments 1.2–2 mm, anthers 0.3–0.4 mm;
carpels 40–50, styles ± columnar, not or scarcely papillate-swollen proximally, 0.8–1.2 mm.
1–1.5(–1.8) mm, ± smooth.
1.4–1.6 mm.
± erect, stout to slender, 1–4 cm.
= 28, 56 (Europe).
Potentilla anglica
Potentilla nana
Potentilla anglica apparently is a product of hybridization involving P. erecta and P. reptans (B. Matfield and J. R. Ellis 1972) that has become stabilized and distinct from both parents. In Europe, it forms back-cross hybrids with both P. erecta (P. ×suberecta Zimmeter) and P. reptans (P. ×mixta Nolte); these hybrids are not known from North America. A garden hybrid supposedly between P. anglica and P. nepalensis Hooker (known as P. ×tonguei Mallett) was found in Allegany State Park, New York, but this was likely cultivated rather than naturalized.
Potentilla anglica probably was introduced even in Newfoundland (A. Kurtto et al. in J. Jalas et al. 1972+, vol. 13), contrary to the view expressed by M. L. Fernald (1950).
The name Potentilla procumbens Sibthorp was previously used for this species; that is a superfluous and illegitimate name.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Potentilla nana has most often been considered a race of P. hyparctica or as the priority name for P. hyparctica. As now defined, P. nana occurs in an arc across southern Alaska, from the Aleutian and Pribilof islands to the Alaskan panhandle and adjacent British Columbia. T. Wolf (1908) treated it as a dwarf form of P. fragiformis; J. Soják (1996) interpreted P. nana as a hybrid species originating from cross(es) between P. fragiformis and P. hyparctica. Although the hybrid hypothesis has morphologic support, P. nana has a unique combination of morphologic features and has a distinct range from both P. fragiformis and P. hyparctica. The species are also ecologically segregated: P. nana is a coastal heath and gravel slope species, like P. hyparctica; P. fragiformis is strictly maritime coastal.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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