Potentilla hippiana
Potentilla brunnescens
Hipp's cinquefoil, horse cinquefoil, potentille de Hipp, woolly cinquefoil
brownish cinquefoil, slender brown cinquefoil, slender cinquefoil
conspicuous, usually golden.
(0.3–)2–4(–5) dm, lengths (1–)2–4 times basal leaves.
ascending to nearly erect, (1.5–)3–7 dm.
pinnate to subpinnate, (3–)5–15(–25) cm;
petiole 1–10(–15) cm, long hairs abundant to dense, tightly appressed, 1–2.5 mm, stiff, short hairs absent or obscured, crisped-cottony hairs absent or sparse to common, glands absent or obscured;
leaflets not conduplicate, lateral ones evenly (to unevenly in argyrea phase) paired, (2–)3–6(–7) per side on distal (1/6–)1/5–1/2 of leaf axis, distal pairs ± decurrent, often confluent with terminal leaflet, larger leaflets oblanceolate or narrowly obovate to oblong, 1–5(–6) × 0.3–1.5 cm, distal (2/3–)3/4 to whole margin incised 1/2 or less (rarely more) to midvein, teeth (5–)7–12(–18) per side, 1–4 mm, surfaces ± to strongly dissimilar, abaxial white, long hairs abundant (mostly on, but not limited to, veins), 1–2 mm, stiff, short hairs absent or obscured, crisped-cottony hairs abundant to dense, glands absent or obscured, adaxial green to grayish, long hairs sparse to common, rarely absent, short or crisped to, sometimes, cottony hairs absent or sparse to common, glands sparse.
sometimes 2-ranked, palmate, (5–)10–30 cm;
petiole (1.5–)5–25(–50) cm, long hairs sparse to abundant, appressed to spreading, 1–2 mm, ± stiff, short, crisped, and cottony hairs absent, glands ± abundant;
leaflets (5–)7–9, at tip of leaf axis, separate to slightly overlapping, largest ones oblanceolate-elliptic to narrowly obovate, (2–)5–10 × 1–4 cm, margins flat to ± revolute, distal 3/4 to nearly whole length ± evenly incised (1/4–)1/2–3/4+ to midvein, undivided medial blade 2–15(–20) mm wide, teeth (5–)7–10 per side, linear to broadly lanceolate, 3–15 mm, surfaces ± similar, abaxial paler, green, not glaucous, long hairs sparse to common, short-crisped hairs absent or sparse, cottony hairs absent, glands ± abundant.
1–2(–3).
1–3(–4).
10–30-flowered.
12–30(–70)-flowered.
0.3–3(–5) cm.
0.2–1(–4) cm.
epicalyx bractlets narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, rarely linear, 2–5 × 0.5–1.5 mm, (1/2–)2/3 as long as sepals, abaxial vestiture similar to or ± sparser than sepals, usually not glabrescent, straight hairs ± abundant, crisped to sometimes ± cottony hairs absent or sparse to abundant;
hypanthium 3–7 mm diam.;
sepals 4–5.5(–6.5) mm, apex acute to acuminate;
petals 4–8 × 4–7 mm;
filaments 0.5–2.5 mm, anthers 0.6–1.1 mm;
carpels (5–)10–30, styles 1.7–2.5 mm.
epicalyx bractlets lanceolate to elliptic, 3–6 × 1–2 mm, hairs sparse to common, loosely appressed to spreading, glands common to abundant;
hypanthium 4–6(–8) mm diam.;
sepals 4–8(–9) mm, apex acute to acuminate;
petals 6–9 × 6–10 mm;
filaments 1–2 mm, anthers 0.6–1 mm;
carpels 30–60, styles filiform-tapered, papillate-swollen proximally, 1.5–2 mm.
1.4–1.8 mm, smooth to faintly rugose.
1.5 mm.
= 42, 70, 77, 84, 98.
Potentilla hippiana
Potentilla brunnescens
Potentilla hippiana is most common and distinctive in the Colorado Plateau and southern Rocky Mountains, with outliers in the mountains of Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. Occurrences are more scattered in the northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains, where intergradation with P. effusa is common. Among these intermediates are the argyrea phase and the single report from Idaho (B. C. Johnston 1980). Potentilla hippiana is probably adventive in Nova Scotia, eastern Ontario, Quebec, and Michigan, and possibly the Northwest Territories. The reported occurrence in central Alaska (E. Hultén 1968) is based on a specimen of P. pensylvanica (CAN).
Significant variation exists throughout the range of Potentilla hippiana, including dwarfism, leaf division, leaflet dissection, adaxial leaflet vestiture, and pedicel length. Some of this variation might merit taxonomic recognition upon further analysis, especially if correlated with ploidy level (6x through 12x). At present, the differences used to distinguish var. argyrea are not found to be sufficiently correlated with distribution to merit formal taxonomic recognition.
Complicating the infraspecific variation is a tendency for Potentilla hippiana to intergrade with other species, in particular P. effusa. Beyond sect. Leucophyllae, the frequency of hybrids with P. pulcherrima blurs the distinction between the two species; P. gracilis var. hippianoides S. L. Welsh & N. D. Atwood is probably one of the resultant intermediates.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
The conspicuous golden glands, dark green color, and relatively broad leaflets make Potentilla brunnescens one of the better-defined species of sect. Graciles, though it has often been treated as a variety of P. gracilis. The glands, which are often on septate stalks, are particularly conspicuous on the epicalyx bractlets, hypanthium, and sepals, and at the junction of petiole and leaflets. The species occurs from the Blue Mountains of Oregon and Washington to western Montana, northern Utah, and north-central Colorado; collections from Alaska are probably not native.
As presented here, Potentilla brunnescens encompasses two morphological extremes that might merit varietal status. Leaflets of the more common and widespread extreme are incised about halfway to the midvein; in contrast, some populations in western Wyoming and adjacent Idaho have leaflets incised 3/4 or more to the midvein. The latter have often been assigned to P. gracilis var. elmeri while reserving P. gracilis var. brunnescens for the former; this is untenable because the type of P. brunnescens is the latter form.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
CalFlora
MI Flora
MN Wildflowers
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
OR
Flora NW
