Potentilla nivea
Potentilla paucijuga
potentille des neiges, snow cinquefoil, snowy cinquefoil
La Sal cinquefoil
stout, not columnar, not sheathed with marcescent whole leaves.
not sheathed with marcescent whole leaves.
ascending to erect, (0.3–)0.5–3(–4) dm, lengths 1.5–2.5(–4) times basal leaves.
decumbent to ascending, 0.5–2(–2.5) dm.
(1–)3–10(–15) cm;
petiole (0.5–)1–6(–10) cm, long hairs usually absent, sometimes sparse to common (less so than cottony hairs), ± appressed, 1–2 mm, soft, smooth, short-crisped hairs absent or obscured, cottony hairs abundant to dense sometimes sparse with age, glands absent, sparse, or obscured;
leaflets overlapping, central obovate, 0.5–2(–4) × (0.2–)0.4–1.2(–2) cm, subsessile, base cuneate, margins slightly revolute, distal ± 3/4 incised (1/4–)1/3–1/2 to midvein, teeth (2–)3–5(–6) per side, ± approximate, surfaces dissimilar, often strongly so, abaxial ± white, long hairs 0.8–1.2 mm, cottony-crisped hairs dense, adaxial usually green, sometimes grayish green, long hairs sparse to abundant, short-crisped hairs sparse to common.
subpalmate, (2–)3–8 cm;
petiole 1–4 cm, long hairs sparse to abundant, ascending to spreading, 0.5–2.5 mm, weak to ± stiff, scarcely to ± verrucose, short-crisped hairs abundant, cottony hairs absent, glands sparse to common;
leaflets (3–)5(–7), proximalmost separated by 1–5 mm, central narrowly obovate-elliptic, (1–)1.5–2.5(–3) × 0.8–1.5 cm, petiolules 0–1 mm, distal 3/4 to whole margin incised 2/3–3/4 to midvein, teeth 5–7 per side, (2–)3–6 mm, apical tufts 0.5–1 mm, abaxial surfaces grayish white to white, long hairs abundant, cottony-crisped hairs usually dense, short hairs and glands absent or sparse, adaxial grayish green, long hairs common to abundant, 1–2 mm, ± stiff, short-crisped hairs abundant, cottony hairs absent, glands sparse to common.
0–1.
1–2.
1–5(–7)-flowered.
(3–)5–10-flowered, congested or ± elongating in fruit, branch angle 10–30°.
1–4 cm in flower, to 5 cm in fruit.
0.2–1 cm, proximal to 1.5 cm.
epicalyx bractlets narrowly to broadly lanceolate or elliptic, (2–)4–7 × 0.6–1.7 mm, usually 1/4–1/2 as wide as sepals, margins flat, red glands usually absent, sometimes sparse, inconspicuous;
hypanthium (2–)3–4 mm diam.;
sepals (2.5–)4–8 mm, apex acute;
petals (3–)4–8 × (3–)5–9 mm, slightly longer than sepals;
filaments 0.9–1.2 mm, anthers 0.5 mm;
carpels 20–40, apical hairs absent, styles narrowly columnar or columnar-tapered, strongly papillate-swollen at very base, rarely in proximal 1/5–1/3, 0.7–1.2 mm.
epicalyx bractlets ± lanceolate, (2–)3–5(–6) × 0.5–1.5 mm;
hypanthium 3.5–5 mm diam.;
sepals 4–6 mm, apex narrowly acute, glands ± common, only partly obscured;
petals yellow, ± overlapping, (4–)5–6 × 4.5–5.5 mm, longer than sepals;
filaments 0.5–2 mm, anthers 0.7 mm;
carpels 50–70, styles 1.2–1.5 mm.
1.1–1.5 mm.
1.3 mm.
= 56, 63; 28, 42, 49, 70 (Asia, Europe).
Potentilla nivea
Potentilla paucijuga
Although now restricted to plants with exclusively (or at least predominantly) cottony hairs on the petioles, the name Potentilla nivea has a long history with an often wider application, sometimes including nearly all of sect. Niveae. As further confusion, J. Soják (1989) noted that the Linnaean type of P. nivea belonged to what is here treated as P. arenosa. Although historical usage of P. nivea has been re-established as a conserved name with a conserved type (B. Eriksen et al. 1999), from 1989 to 1999 the name P. nivea was applied to P. arenosa. During this period, P. prostrata subsp. floccosa was briefly adopted as the correct name for this species (for example, W. J. Cody 1996).
Molecular evidence (B. Eriksen and M. H. Töpel 2006) indicates that populations of Potentilla nivea in the Atlantic regions, including Greenland and eastern Canada, differ from those in the Beringian regions of northwestern North America, suggesting expansion from separate Pleistocene refugia. A comparable pattern was noted by R. Elven and S. G. Aiken (2007) based on morphologic characters. The conserved type of P. nivea is from northern Sweden (Eriksen et al. 1999) and belongs to the Atlantic morphologic group. The variation within each region is large, and racial recognition would accordingly be premature. Plants from sites south of the continental glaciation, which were not included in the analysis by Eriksen and Töpel, deviate in having acuminate leaflet teeth and epicalyx bractlets and in being generally more slender. Epicalyx bractlets of some Washington plants are nearly as narrow as those of P. crebridens.
Additional chromosome numbers have been reported for Potentilla nivea, but it is unknown whether these apply to this species, P. crebridens, some Asian relative, or hybrids.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Potentilla paucijuga is a distinctive species endemic to the La Sal Mountains in Grand and San Juan counties. Diagnostic features include silvery-silky subpalmate leaves, relatively showy flowers with elongate epicalyx bractlets and sepals, and styles that are nearly 1.5 mm. In Colorado (for example, W. A. Weber and R. C. Wittman 1996), P. pensylvanica var. paucijuga has been applied to what is treated here as P. jepsonii (sect. Pensylvanicae).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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