Potentilla concinna
Potentilla villosula
early cinquefoil, elegant cinquefoil, red cinquefoil
Alaska cinquefoil, finely villous cinquefoil
stout, sometimes ± columnar, not sheathed with marcescent whole leaves.
0.2–1.6 dm, lengths 1/2–3(–4) times basal leaves.
ascending to erect, 0.2–1.5(–2) dm, lengths 1.5–3(–4) times basal leaves.
usually palmate to subpalmate, sometimes subpinnate, 1(–2) pair of leaflets separate from terminal leaflets, distal leaflets distinct, 2–10(–15) cm;
petiole 1–7(–10) cm, straight hairs ± abundant, ± appressed, 1–3 mm, stiff to weak, cottony hairs present, sometimes absent;
leaflets 5(–7), on tip or to distal 1/4 of leaf axis, separate to ± overlapping, proximal pair separated from others by 0–5(–10) mm of leaf axis, central leaflets narrowly oblanceolate to obovate, 1–3(–7) × 0.4–1.2 cm, petiolules 0–2(–4) mm, distal 1/4 to whole margin incised 1/4–3/4+ to midvein, teeth (1–)2–5(–10) per side, separate, 1–6 mm, surfaces strongly to ± dissimilar, abaxial grayish to white, straight hairs ± abundant, ± appressed, 0.5–2 mm, weak to stiff (especially on veins), cottony hairs ± dense, rarely sparse, glands sparse or obscured, adaxial green to grayish, straight hairs common to abundant, appressed, 0.5–2 mm, mostly stiff, sometimes weak or mixed, cottony hairs absent or sparse, rarely common, glands ± sparse.
1–5.5(–7) cm;
petiole 0.5–3.5(–5) cm, long hairs common to dense, ascending to spreading, loosely appressed, sometimes retrorse, 1–2(–3) mm, soft, smooth, crisped/short-cottony hairs usually sparse, sometimes common, glands absent or sparse to common or obscured;
leaflets overlapping, central broadly obovate to obtriangular, 0.8–2.5 × 0.6–2 cm, sessile to subsessile, base broadly cuneate, margins revolute, distal 1/2–2/3(–3/4) incised ± 1/2 to midvein, teeth 2–3(–4) per side, ± approximate to ± distant, surfaces ± dissimilar, abaxial grayish to white or yellowish white, long hairs 1.5–2.5 mm, cottony-crisped hairs ± dense, adaxial grayish green, long hairs abundant to dense, crisped hairs absent, sparse, or obscured.
(0–)1–2(–3).
(1–)2–12-flowered.
(1–)2–3(–4)-flowered.
1–2(–3) cm.
0.5–3(–5) cm in flower, to 4(–6) cm in fruit.
epicalyx bractlets lanceolate to narrowly ovate to linear-elliptic, sometimes doubled, (2–)2.5–5 × 1–1.5 mm;
hypanthium 3–6 mm diam.;
sepals 3.5–6 mm, apex acute;
petals (2.5–)4–9 × (2–)3–7 mm;
filaments 1–3 mm, anthers 0.5–1 mm;
carpels (7–)10–30, styles (1–)1.5–2 mm.
epicalyx bractlets broadly lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 3–7(–8) × 1.5–3(–3.5) mm, 2/3 to as wide as sepals, margins ± revolute, red glands absent;
hypanthium (3–)4–6 mm diam.;
sepals 4–7(–8) mm, apex acute or rarely acuminate;
petals 5–10 × 6–12 mm, significantly longer than sepals;
filaments 1.1–1.4 mm, anthers 0.5–0.8 mm;
carpels 40–70, apical hairs absent or sparse (straight), styles narrowly columnar to conic-tapered, papillate-swollen in proximal 1/5 or less, 1–1.2 mm.
1.5–2.5 mm, smooth to lightly rugose.
0.9–2 mm.
= 70.
= 28 (Russian Far East).
Potentilla concinna
Potentilla villosula
Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).
Potentilla concinna is a relatively widespread, low-growing, early-blooming species with palmate to subpalmate, abaxially cottony leaves. Flowers often appear before leaves are fully expanded. The three varieties treated here have some level of biogeographic identity and are, therefore, given provisional taxonomic recognition. Some treatments have also included P. bicrenata, P. johnstonii, and P. macounii as varieties of P. concinna. Two Mexican species, P. leonina Standley and P. oblanceolata Rydberg, have also been treated as varieties of P. concinna by J. Soják (2006); they are retained as distinct species here, pending further research on Mexican Potentilla. Two other erstwhile varieties of P. concinna are now placed in separate sections: var. modesta (Rydberg) S. L. Welsh & B. C. Johnston (misapplied) in sect. Rubricaules as P. modesta, and var. rubripes (Rydberg) C. L. Hitchcock in sect. Subjugae, intermediate between P. saximontana and P. subjuga. Potentilla concinnaeformis Rydberg, considered to be a close relative of P. concinna by I. W. Clokey (1939), is more likely a hybrid between P. glaucophylla (sect. Graciles) and P. hippiana (sect. Leucophyllae). Hybrids also occur with P. multisecta, and probably other species as well.
Potentilla concinna was first described in 1818 as P. humifusa Nuttall, a later homonym for P. humifusa Willdenow.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Potentilla villosula was included previously in P. villosa; the two overlap in the southern and western Alaskan coasts, where a transition is suspected to be associated with differing ploidy levels. The plants from this area with silky hairs and multiflowered inflorescences are assigned to P. villosa; P. villosula has thicker, stiffer, and less silky hairs, fewer teeth per leaflet, narrower bracts, fewer and smaller flowers with narrower epicalyx bractlets and sepals, and fewer achenes (sometimes with single apical hairs). While P. villosa is restricted to relatively rocky sites near the coast from western Alaska to Oregon, P. villosula often occurs on coastal sand dunes, farther inland, and/or farther to the north.
As circumscribed, Potentilla villosula is a major plant of Alaska, especially of the Bering Sea region. The species extends from Alaska and the Yukon to at least central British Columbia. Most of the range given by E. Hultén (1968) for P. villosa belongs to P. villosula. W. J. Cody (1996) accepted the name P. villosula for a common south-central Yukon plant, but the majority of the plants mapped by Cody probably belong to P. subgorodkovii (although the distinction between the two species needs more resolution). Provisionally included here are plants from southern and central Yukon south through the Canadian Rockies, possibly including the type of P. nivea subsp. fallax A. E. Porsild. Such plants tend to be significantly smaller overall than Alaskan P. villosula; at least some have straight hairs on carpel apices.
J. Soják (2004) believed that Potentilla villosula evolved from crosses between P. villosa and P. vulcanicola. The affinity with P. villosa is seen in the sericeous vestiture, number of leaflet teeth, and flower number and size, and with P. vulcanicola in the frequent occurrence of straight hairs on carpel apices in both species. Plants with columnar caudex branches, representing a significant part of the Alaskan material, have been called subsp. congesta. This morphology results from the persistence of marcescent whole leaves for several years (in typical P. villosula only sheaths and petioles are retained). This character suggests that P. subvahliana, with which the form called subsp. congesta is sympatric, may be part of its parentage. Potentilla villosula is accepted here in a fairly collective sense, possibly including several hybrid lineages, but with P. villosa a part of them all.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Distal (1/2–)3/4 to full length of central leaflets incised 1/2–3/4+ to midvein, teeth 2–6 mm; n Great Plains to c Utah. | var. divisa |
1. Distal 1/4–3/4 of central leaflets incised 1/4–1/2 to midvein, teeth 1–3(–5) mm; mostly Rocky Mountains and west | → 2 |
2. Stem lengths 1/2–1.5(–2) times basal leaves; leaves palmate, proximal leaflet pair not separated from others. | var. concinna |
2. Stem lengths 2–3(–4) times basal leaves; leaves usually palmate to subpalmate, sometimes subpinnate, proximal leaflet pair often separated from others by 1–5(–10) mm of leaf axis. | var. proxima |
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