Flora of North America species comparison

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Potentilla biflora

two-flower cinquefoil
Basal leaves

petiole 1–4 cm, long hairs absent or sparse, 1.5–2 mm, crisped hairs absent or sparse;

leaflet lobes linear, 10–20 × 1–2 mm, surfaces with long hairs sparse or absent.
Flowers

epicalyx bractlets oblong, ovate, or lanceolate, 2.5–4 × 0.4–1.3 mm;

sepals 3.5–5 mm, apex acute to apiculate;

petals 6–10 × 4–10 mm;

filaments 2.8–4 mm, anthers 0.6 mm;

carpels 15–25.
Achenes

1.5–2 mm.
2n

= 14.

Potentilla biflora
Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Dryas fellfields, gravel terraces, well-drained soil, often with seasonal seepage, on calcareous substrates
Elevation 0–2000 m (0–6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; BC; NT; NU; YT; Asia
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

In North America, Potentilla biflora is mostly Beringian, barely reaching northern British Columbia and western Northwest Territories, with one locality in Nunavut (southern Victoria Island). The amphi-Beringian range is strongly isolated from other Asian populations, the closest being in the Altai Mountains of south-central Siberia. Two varieties are accepted in China (Li C. L. et al. 2003c), with North American plants falling in var. biflora.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 9, p. 131.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Potentilla > sect. Biflorae
Sibling taxa
P. albiflora, P. ambigens, P. anachoretica, P. angelliae, P. anglica, P. anserina, P. arenosa, P. argentea, P. arizonica, P. basaltica, P. bicrenata, P. biennis, P. bimundorum, P. bipinnatifida, P. brevifolia, P. breweri, P. bruceae, P. brunnescens, P. canadensis, P. concinna, P. cottamii, P. crantzii, P. crebridens, P. crinita, P. cristae, P. demotica, P. drummondii, P. effusa, P. elegans, P. erecta, P. flabellifolia, P. fragiformis, P. furcata, P. glaucophylla, P. gracilis, P. grayi, P. hickmanii, P. hippiana, P. holmgrenii, P. hookeriana, P. hyparctica, P. inclinata, P. intermedia, P. jepsonii, P. johnstonii, P. lasiodonta, P. litoralis, P. macounii, P. millefolia, P. modesta, P. morefieldii, P. multijuga, P. multisecta, P. nana, P. newberryi, P. nivea, P. norvegica, P. ovina, P. paucijuga, P. pedersenii, P. pensylvanica, P. plattensis, P. pseudosericea, P. pulchella, P. pulcherrima, P. recta, P. reptans, P. rhyolitica, P. rimicola, P. rivalis, P. robbinsiana, P. rubella, P. rubricaulis, P. sanguinea, P. saximontana, P. sierrae-blancae, P. simplex, P. sterilis, P. stipularis, P. subgorodkovii, P. subjuga, P. subvahliana, P. subviscosa, P. supina, P. thurberi, P. thuringiaca, P. tikhomirovii, P. townsendii, P. uliginosa, P. uschakovii, P. vahliana, P. verna, P. versicolor, P. villosa, P. villosula, P. vulcanicola, P. wheeleri
Name authority D. F. K. Schlechtendal: Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin Mag. Neuesten Entdeck. Gesammten Naturk. 7: 297. (1816)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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