Potentilla canadensis |
Potentilla nana |
|
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dwarf cinquefoil |
arctic cinquefoil, dwarf cinquefoil |
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Habit | Plants densely tufted; caudex branches short, slender to ± stout, diam. 0.5–1 cm, including old leaf bases. | |
Stems | initially ascending to erect, soon becoming prostrate, flagelliform, not branched, eventually rooting at some nodes, (0.3–)0.5–12 dm. |
ascending to erect, 0.1–0.5(–0.7) dm, lengths 1–2 times basal leaves. |
Basal leaves | ± persistent, usually palmate, 2–9(–11) cm; petiole 1–7(–8) cm, long hairs abundant to dense, appressed to spreading, 1.5–3 mm, mostly ± weak, glands absent or sparse; leaflets (3–)5(–7), central mostly ± obovate to cuneate, sometimes narrowly so, (0.5–)1–4(–6) × (0.5–)0.8–2(–3) cm, distal 1/2 of margin incised 1/4–1/3 to midvein, teeth 2–7 per side, surfaces similar to ± dissimilar, abaxial green to silvery white, sparsely to densely hairy, adaxial 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. |
Cauline leaves | 0–1 proximal to 1st flowering node, not fully expanded at anthesis, usually palmate, 2–7(–9) cm; petiole (0.5–)1–6(–7.5) cm; leaflets (3–)5, ± resembling those of basal leaves, apex rounded to obtuse. |
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Inflorescences | solitary flowers at stolon nodes. |
1(–2)-flowered. |
Pedicels | (1–)2–5(–9) cm. |
straight, 0.2–1.5 cm in flower, to 5 cm in fruit. |
Flowers | 5-merous; epicalyx bractlets linear to lanceolate-elliptic, (2–)3–5(–6) × 0.8–1.5 mm, slightly smaller than to ± equal to sepals; hypanthium 2.5–5 mm diam.; sepals (2–)3–5(–6) mm, apex acute; petals 4–6(–8) × 3.5–6.5(–8) mm, apex rounded to slightly retuse; stamens ca. 20, filaments 0.5–2 mm, anthers 0.4–1 mm; carpels 20–40, styles 0.8–1.4 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. |
Achenes | 1.2–1.4 mm, smooth. |
1.4–1.6 mm. |
Rootstocks | erect, stout, 0.5–2 cm. |
|
2n | = 28. |
|
Potentilla canadensis |
Potentilla nana |
|
Phenology | Flowering late Mar–early Jun. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Dry flats and slopes in lawns, pastures, roadsides, cherty slopes, dry meadows, edges of oak and conifer woodlands, often on acidic soil | Alpine and coastal Dryas-Salix-Empetrum heaths, gravelly slopes, ridge crests, fellfields, scree and talus |
Elevation | 0–1500 m (0–4900 ft) | 100–1100 m (300–3600 ft) |
Distribution |
CT; DC; DE; KY; MA; MD; ME; MO; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WV; NS; ON
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AK; BC
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Discussion | A cream-colored form (ochroleuca) was described from a now-obliterated site in Massachusetts (M. L. Fernald 1931). (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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 134. | FNA vol. 9, p. 192. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Potentilla > sect. Potentilla | Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Potentilla > sect. Aureae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. canadensis var. pumila, P. canadensis var. villosissima, P. caroliniana, P. pumila | P. emarginata subsp. nana |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 498. (1753) | D. F. K. Schlechtendal: Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin Mag. Neuesten Entdeck. Gesammten Naturk. 7: 296. (1816) |
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