Potentilla glaucophylla |
Potentilla villosula |
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blue-leaf cinquefoil, different-leaf cinquefoil, diverse-leaf cinquefoil, mountain meadow cinquefoil, vari-leaf cinquefoil |
Alaska cinquefoil, finely villous cinquefoil |
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Habit | Plants densely tufted. | |||||
Glands | absent or inconspicuous, uncolored. |
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Caudex branches | stout, sometimes ± columnar, not sheathed with marcescent whole leaves. |
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Stems | mostly ± ascending, 0.5–3(–4.5) dm. |
ascending to erect, 0.2–1.5(–2) dm, lengths 1.5–3(–4) times basal leaves. |
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Basal leaves | often 2-ranked, palmate, sometimes subpalmate, 2–20 cm; petiole (0.5–)1–8(–14) cm, long hairs often absent, sometimes sparse to abundant, usually appressed, 1–2 mm, weak to ± stiff, short, crisped, and cottony hairs absent, glands absent or sparse; leaflets 5–6(–7), sometimes with 1–2(–4) additional, smaller, entire leaflets, on tip or to distal 1/10(–1/4) of leaf axis, separate, largest ones oblanceolate or cuneate to obovate, 1–4(–6) × 0.5–1.5(–2) cm, margins flat, distal 1/3–1/2(–2/3) ± evenly incised 1/2 or nearly to midvein, undivided medial blade 1.5–7(–10) mm wide, teeth 1–3(–5) per side, broadly lanceolate or linear to narrowly oblong, 1–5(–8) mm, surfaces similar adaxial ± less hairy, ± blue-green, usually glaucous, long hairs sparse to abundant (often restricted to veins, distal teeth, and margins), short, crisped, and cottony hairs absent, glands absent or 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. |
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Cauline leaves | (0–)1–2(–3). |
(0–)1–2(–3). |
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Inflorescences | 2–10(–20)-flowered. |
(1–)2–3(–4)-flowered. |
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Pedicels | (0.5–)1–3(–6.5) cm. |
0.5–3(–5) cm in flower, to 4(–6) cm in fruit. |
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Flowers | epicalyx bractlets lanceolate to elliptic, 2–5 × 0.8–1.2(–1.6) mm, hairs sparse to common, rarely abundant, ± ascending, glands absent or inconspicuous; hypanthium 3.5–5 mm diam.; sepals (2–)2.5–4.5(–5) mm, apex acute to short acuminate; petals (4–)5–10(–12) × 4–9(–10) mm; filaments 1.5–2.5(–3) mm, anthers 0.4–0.7(–0.9) mm; carpels 25–40, styles filiform above papillate-swollen base, 1.5–2.5(–3) 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. |
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Achenes | 1.2–1.6 mm. |
0.9–2 mm. |
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2n | = 28 (Russian Far East). |
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Potentilla glaucophylla |
Potentilla villosula |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring to summer. | |||||
Habitat | Rocky alpine heaths, outcrops, scree and talus, gravel outwash plains, dry tundra, coastal bluffs, stabilized sand dunes, mostly on acidic bedrock | |||||
Elevation | 0–2900 m (0–9500 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AK; CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; NL; NT; SK; YT
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AK; AB; BC; YT; e Asia (Russian Far East) |
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Potentilla glaucophylla replaces P. diversifolia; an examination of the lectotype of the latter confirms J. Soják’s (1996) conclusion that P. diversifolia applies to a hybrid involving P. glaucophylla and P. hippiana. Historically, this species was often termed P. dissecta Pursh, a misapplied name that has been rejected (B. Ertter et al. 2008). In addition to the nomenclatural change, the circumscription of Potentilla glaucophylla is here restricted to plants with usually glaucous, blue-green, distally toothed leaflets that are usually glabrate (at least in var. glaucophylla). Plants from the Colorado Plateau and southern Rocky Mountains formerly included in this species and having dark green leaves, more leaflet teeth, and larger anthers are transferred either to P. townsendii or to a currently undescribed entity. The two-ranked leaves of Potentilla glaucophylla suggest a possible connection to P. crantzii in sect. Aureae. (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.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 152. | FNA vol. 9, p. 202. | ||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Potentilla > sect. Graciles | Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Potentilla > sect. Niveae | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | P. diversifolia var. glaucophylla | P. villosula subsp. congesta | ||||
Name authority | Lehmann: Index Seminum (Hamburg) 1836: 7. (1836) | Jurtzev: in A. I. Tolmatchew, Fl. Arct. URSS 9(1): 319. (1984) | ||||
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