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Hipp's cinquefoil, horse cinquefoil, potentille de Hipp, woolly cinquefoil

arctic cinquefoil, subarctic cinquefoil

Habit Plants cushion-forming; caudex branches short to elongate, slender, often embedded in old leaf bases.
Stems

(0.3–)2–4(–5) dm, lengths (1–)2–4 times basal leaves.

ascending to erect, 0.2–2(–2.5) dm, lengths 1–3(–4) times basal leaves.

Basal leaves

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.

not in ranks, ternate, (1–)2–8(–10) cm;

stipules: apex ± acute;

petiole 1–6.5(–8.5) cm, long hairs sparse to common, spreading to subappressed, 0.8–2 mm, weak to ± stiff, glands sparse to common;

leaflets 3, central obovate to broadly obovate, 0.5–2.5(–2.8) × 0.3–2(–2.2) cm, petiolule 0–3 mm, margins flat or slightly revolute, not lobed, distal 1/2–2/3(–3/4) evenly incised ± 1/2 to midvein, teeth (2–)3–5 per side, surfaces ± similar, abaxial usually pale green, sometimes grayish, hairs sparse to abundant, 0.5–1.7 mm, adaxial darker green, hairs and glands sparse.

Cauline leaves

1–2(–3).

Inflorescences

10–30-flowered.

1–3(–5)-flowered.

Pedicels

0.3–3(–5) cm.

straight, 0.3–3 cm in flower, to 9 cm in fruit.

Flowers

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 narrowly to broadly oblong or ovate, 3.5–7 × 1.5–5 mm, margins flat;

hypanthium 4–7 mm diam.;

sepals 4–8 mm, apex subacute to rounded;

petals pale or bright yellow, 4–9 × 4–6 mm;

filaments 0.5–1.1 mm, anthers 0.2–0.4 mm;

carpels 50–80, styles ± columnar, not or scarcely papillate-swollen proximally, 0.6–0.9 mm.

Achenes

1.4–1.8 mm, smooth to faintly rugose.

1.1–1.3 mm.

2n

= 42, 70, 77, 84, 98.

Potentilla hippiana

Potentilla hyparctica

Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Dry grasslands and meadows, in aspen and conifer woodlands or alpine tundra, disturbed sites
Elevation 500–3400 m (1600–11200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; MI; MN; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; SD; UT; WY; AB; BC; MB; NS; NT; ON; QC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; MT; WA; WY; AB; BC; NL; NT; NU; QC; YT; n Eurasia; circumpolar
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Subspecies 3 (2 in the flora).

Southern arctic and subarctic plants differ from the northern arctic ones in presumably independent features. Where the two forms are sympatric (western Greenland, northern Quebec, Baffin Island), they appear to remain distinct even in mixed populations and are accordingly treated as subspecies.

Although some features of scattered plants in Alaska and Yukon approach subsp. nivicola Jurtzev & V. V. Petrovsky (described from northeastern Asia), such plants do not otherwise correspond fully with this taxon. Possible hybrids between Potentilla hyparctica and P. pulchella (sect. Pensylvanicae) are addressed in the discussion of sect. Pensylvanicae. Presumed hybrids with P. villosa from the Aleutian Islands, characterized by the combination of basally thickened styles and lack of cottony hairs on leaflet abaxial surfaces, have been named P. ×aleutica Soják.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Epicalyx bractlets narrowly to ± oblong or ovate, 1.5–2 mm wide; central leaflets: petiolules 0–2 mm, bases cuneate.
subsp. hyparctica
1. Epicalyx bractlets broadly oblong or ovate, 2–5 mm wide; central leaflets: petiolules (0–)2–3(–5) mm, bases broadly cuneate to rounded.
subsp. elatior
Source FNA vol. 9, p. 162. FNA vol. 9, p. 192.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Potentilla > sect. Leucophyllae Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Potentilla > sect. Aureae
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. biflora, 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. 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
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. biflora, 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
P. hyparctica subsp. elatior, P. hyparctica subsp. hyparctica
Synonyms P. leucophylla, P. argyrea, P. effusa var. argyrea, P. hippiana var. argyrea, P. hippiana var. diffusa, P. propinqua P. robbinsiana subsp. hyparctica
Name authority Lehmann: Nov. Stirp. Pug. 2: 7. (1830) — not Pallas 1773 Malte: Rhodora 36: 177. (1934)
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