Potentilla anserina |
Potentilla lasiodonta |
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common silverweed, Pacific cinquefoil, silver weed cinquefoil, silverweed |
Sandhills cinquefoil |
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Stems | ± erect, 2–4 dm. |
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Basal leaves | petiole (0.5–)1–15(–25) cm, long hairs absent or sparse to dense, 1.5–3.5 mm; larger leaflets (0.4–)0.5–5(–7) × (0.2–)0.3–2(–3) cm, surfaces: abaxial with long hairs absent or sparse to abundant, not restricted to veins, 0.5–2(–2.5) mm, cottony-crisped hairs usually dense or usually absent (in subsp. groenlandica), adaxial with long hairs absent or sparse to abundant, cottony-crisped hairs usually absent, sometimes sparse to common (especially subsp. yukonensis). |
pinnate, 12–20(–30) cm; petiole 5–10(–15) cm, long hairs ± abundant, spreading to ascending, 0.5–1 mm, weak to ± stiff, short hairs abundant to dense, cottony or crisped hairs absent, glands sparse to abundant, often obscured; leaflets 4–6(–9) per side, on distal (1/3–)1/2–3/5 of leaf axis, slightly overlapping, terminal ones oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 3–6 × 0.8–1.2(–1.5) cm, margins strongly revolute, incised ± 1/2 to midvein, undivided medial blade 5–9 mm wide, teeth 8–12 per side, narrowly triangular to lanceolate, surfaces ± dissimilar, abaxial grayish, long hairs ± sparse (or not differentiated from short hairs), 0.5–1.5 mm, weak, short hairs abundant to dense, cottony or crisped hairs absent, glands sparse or obscured, adaxial ± green, straight hairs (long and short not differentiated) abundant, spreading to ascending, 0.2–0.5 mm, cottony and crisped hairs absent, glands sparse to abundant, often obscured. |
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Cauline leaves | (1–)2–4. |
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Inflorescences | 10–40-flowered, congested or elongating in fruit. |
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Pedicels | ± 0.1 cm (proximal to 1.2 cm). |
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Flowers | epicalyx bractlets narrowly to broadly ovate-triangular or linear to elliptic, (2–)2.5–7(–8) × (0.3–)0.5–3(–3.5) mm, often 2-fid or dentate; sepals (3–)3.5–7(–9) mm, apex subacute to acuminate; petals (4–)5–15(–20) × (2.5–)3–10(–12) mm; filaments (1–)2.5–3.5(–4.5) mm, anthers 0.7–1.3 mm; carpels (10–)20–200(–250). |
epicalyx bractlets narrowly ovate-acuminate, (3–)4–8(–10) × 2–3 mm, lengths 1–2 times sepals, margins ± revolute; hypanthium (4–)5–10 mm diam.; sepals 3–5 mm, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surfaces: venation moderate, glands ± abundant, obscured to evident; petals pale yellow, 3–5 × 2–4 mm, lengths ± equal to or shorter than sepals; filaments 1–1.5 mm, anthers 0.5–0.8 mm; carpels 80–90, styles papillate-swollen in proximal 3/4+, 1–1.2 mm. |
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Achenes | 2 mm. |
± 1 mm, ± rugose. |
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2n | = 14. |
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Potentilla anserina |
Potentilla lasiodonta |
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Phenology | Flowering summer. | |||||||||||||
Habitat | Sandy sites in prairies | |||||||||||||
Elevation | 300–1100 m (1000–3600 ft) | |||||||||||||
Distribution |
AK; AZ; CA; CO; CT; IA; ID; IL; IN; MA; ME; MI; MN; MT; ND; NE; NH; NM; NV; NY; OH; OR; RI; SD; UT; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; NU; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Mexico; South America (Argentina, Chile); Eurasia; Pacific Islands (New Guinea, New Zealand); s Australia
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MN; ND; AB; MB; SK |
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Discussion | Subspecies 4 or 5 (4 in the flora). Potentilla anserina is polymorphic in most features, especially in hairiness, but also in size and in degree of dissection of leaflets, epicalyx bractlets, and sepals. While most of the variation described by A. G. Blytt (1906) is taxonomically insignificant, A. Rousi (1965) found support for three northern races: subspp. anserina, egedei, and pacifica. He also suggested that P. yukonensis Hultén might qualify as a separate subspecies. This treatment follows J. Soják (1994) in accepting four northern subspecies of P. anserina, all present in North America. A. Rousi (1965) demonstrated partial interfertility between the races of Potentilla anserina, which form intermediates in all zones of contact. The distinctness of the four races, in spite of intermediates, is upheld by being partly allopatric and occupying different habitats where they are sympatric. As partly interfertile parapatric entities, they are best treated as subspecies. The vast majority of chromosome counts are tetraploid. Tetraploid plants (2n = 28) are fully fertile; hexaploids (2n = 42) are largely pollen and seed sterile; pentaploids (2n = 35) are probably occasional hybrids (S. Erlandsson 1942, 1942b; A. Rousi 1965). A. Kurtto et al. (in J. Jalas et al. 1972+, vol. 13) considered numbers above tetraploid level as cases of occasional autopolyploidy. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Potentilla lasiodonta is a diploid relative of tetraploid P. pensylvanica, sharing similar velvety vestiture of dense short hairs, pinnate leaves, and epicalyx bractlets with revolute margins. The species differs in having larger epicalyx bractlets and less deeply incised leaflets. Plant height and leaf size are at the upper range of P. pensylvanica, and populations are evidently restricted to sandy substrates. Occurrence in Manitoba is based on B. L. Kohli and J. G. Packer (1976); no vouchers are in WIN. At least one collection from southeastern British Columbia (Brown 779, MO) approaches P. lasiodonta, but it is insufficient by itself to serve as a provincial record. The fundamental ploidy and epicalyx distinctions of this species were established by B. L. Kohli and J. G. Packer (1976), who proposed the name Potentilla finitima. As noted by J. Soják (1994), the type of P. lasiodonta is the same entity. Potentilla atrovirens Rydberg and P. pensylvanica var. arida B. Boivin have sometimes been applied to this taxon; the types of both names fall within the circumscription of P. pensylvanica in the narrow sense (Packer, pers. comm.). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 127. | FNA vol. 9, p. 214. | ||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Potentilla > sect. Pentaphylloides | Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Potentilla > sect. Pensylvanicae | ||||||||||||
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Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Argentina anserina | P. finitima | ||||||||||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 495. (1753) | Rydberg: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 351. (1908) | ||||||||||||
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