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cut-leaf cinquefoil, feather cinquefoil, feather or many-leaf or Klamath cinquefoil, many leaf cinquefoil

Habit Plants ± rosetted; taproots fleshy-thickened. Plants ± tufted.
Caudex branches

slender to stout, not columnar, not sheathed with marcescent whole leaves.

Stems

usually prostrate, sometimes ± decumbent, 0.4–2(–3) dm, lengths 1–2 times basal leaves.

± ascending, sometimes nearly erect, 0.5–1.5(–3) dm, lengths 2–4 times basal leaves.

Basal leaves

pinnate with distal leaflets ± confluent, 2–15(–20) × 1–3 cm;

petiole 0.5–2(–3) cm, straight hairs sparse to abundant, appressed to spreading, 0.5–1.5 mm, stiff, cottony hairs absent, glands absent or sparse;

primary lateral leaflets (3–)5–13 per side, on distal 2/3–3/4+ of leaf axis, separate to overlapping, largest ones cuneate to flabellate, 0.5–1.5(–2) × 0.5–2 cm, distal 2/3 to whole margin palmately or unevenly, rarely pinnately, incised 2/3 to completely to midvein, ultimate teeth or segments (1–)2–10, linear to broadly oblanceolate, 2–10 × (0.5–)1–2 mm, apical tufts to 1 mm, surfaces green to grayish green, not glaucous, straight hairs sparse to abundant, appressed to spreading, 0.5–1.5(–2) mm, stiff, cottony hairs absent, glands sparse to common.

2–4 cm;

petiole 1–2.5 cm, long hairs common to abundant, spreading to ascending, rarely loosely appressed, 1–2 mm, ± stiff, verrucose, short-crisped hairs sparse to abundant, sometimes nearly absent, cottony hairs absent, glands sparse;

leaflets ± overlapping, central elliptic to obovate, 1–1.5 × 0.6–1.1 cm, petiolulate, base broadly cuneate, margins flat or slightly revolute, distal ± 2/3 incised ± 1/2 to midvein, teeth (3–)4 per side, ± approximate, surfaces ± dissimilar, abaxial reddish or greenish gray to white, long hairs 1 mm, cottony-crisped hairs common to dense, adaxial green or reddish to gray-green, long hairs sparse to abundant, short-crisped hairs absent or sparse to common.

Cauline leaves

(0–)1–2.

0–1.

Inflorescences

3–6(–10)-flowered, loosely cymose, sometimes racemiform.

2–5-flowered.

Pedicels

(0.5–)1–2(–4.5) cm, ± recurved in fruit.

1–2 cm in flower, to 3(–5) cm in fruit.

Flowers

epicalyx bractlets ± elliptic, 2–4(–6) × 1–2(–2.5) mm;

hypanthium 3–6 mm diam.;

sepals 4–6(–8) mm, apex acute;

petals 4–8(–10) × 3–7(–9) mm;

filaments 2–3.5 mm, anthers 0.7–1 mm;

carpels 10–30, styles (1.5–)2–3 mm.

epicalyx bractlets narrowly elliptic to narrowly ovate, 4–6 × 1–2.5 mm, (1/2–)2/3 to as wide as sepals, margins revolute, sometimes flat, red glands usually common, conspicuous;

hypanthium 3.5–4.5 mm diam.;

sepals 5–7 mm, apex subacute;

petals 6–8 × (4–)5–8 mm, longer than sepals;

filaments 0.7–1.2 mm, anthers 0.4 mm;

carpels 40–60, apical hairs absent, styles columnar, strongly papillate-swollen in proximal 1/5–1/3, 0.9–1 mm.

Achenes

1.5–2 mm, smooth, often ± carunculate.

1.2–1.8 mm.

2n

= 42, 49 (Russian Far East).

Potentilla millefolia

Potentilla tikhomirovii

Phenology Flowering spring–summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Vernally to permanently wet meadows, moist openings in conifer forests and sagebrush, alkaline flats Dry tundra meadows, loamy soil banks, sedge-herb slopes
Elevation 700–2200 m (2300–7200 ft) 0–1100 m (0–3600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; NT; NU; Greenland; Europe (Russia); Asia
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Potentilla millefolia occurs from central Oregon to the east side of the Sierra Nevada of California, with a disjunct occurrence on the alkaline flats of Reese River Valley, Nevada. Significant variation occurs in vestiture type, leaflet dissection, and flower size, but with minimal geographic correlation. The most distinctive variant, represented by the type of P. klamathensis, has relatively long, slender, spreading, pustule-based hairs, often intermixed with shorter hairs. This vestiture type does not appear to be correlated with any other characters or geographic distribution and may vary within a population.

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

Potentilla tikhomirovii is an assumed hybrid species combining characteristics from P. arenosa subsp. arenosa of sect. Niveae (abaxial leaflet surfaces with crisped-cottony hairs, adaxial surfaces with both long and short hairs, petioles often with both long and short hairs, and flower shape and size) and P. hyparctica of sect. Aureae (crisped-cottony hairs often not fully covering abaxial leaf surfaces, reddish color in most plant parts, sepals and epicalyx bractlets relatively large, broad, less acute, and with many and reddish glands, which are often also on petioles and stipules).

Potentilla tikhomirovii has an interrupted range and is not very coherent morphologically. It forms large populations locally, probably by agamic seed propagation, and is a significant part of the Potentilla variation in northern and northeastern Greenland, Ellesmere Island, and parts of the Brooks Range, northern Alaska. Both the distributional and the morphologic patterns indicate that it has evolved multiple times in different regions, such that it is a borderline case for status as an independent species. Its large populations and significant distribution in some regions support recognition, as also does the paucity of obvious back-crosses with the parents.

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

Source FNA vol. 9, p. 174. FNA vol. 9, p. 201.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Potentilla > sect. Multijugae Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Potentilla > sect. Niveae
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. hippiana, P. holmgrenii, P. hookeriana, P. hyparctica, P. inclinata, P. intermedia, P. jepsonii, P. johnstonii, P. lasiodonta, P. litoralis, P. macounii, 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. 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. townsendii, P. uliginosa, P. uschakovii, P. vahliana, P. verna, P. versicolor, P. villosa, P. villosula, P. vulcanicola, P. wheeleri
Synonyms P. klamathensis, P. millefolia var. klamathensis, P. plattensis var. klamathensis, P. plattensis var. millefolia
Name authority Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 23: 433, plate 277, figs. 1–5. (1896) Jurtzev: in A. I. Tolmatchew, Fl. Arct. URSS 9(1): 318. (1984)
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