Potentilla nivea
Potentilla villosa
potentille des neiges, snow cinquefoil, snowy cinquefoil
hairy cinquefoil, northern cinquefoil, villous cinquefoil
stout, not columnar, not sheathed with marcescent whole leaves.
stout, sometimes short-columnar, 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.
ascending, 0.5–2(–2.5) dm, lengths 1.5–3 times basal leaves.
(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.
2–12(–15) cm;
petiole 1–9(–12) cm, long hairs ± abundant to dense, spreading to ascending, 1–2.5(–3) mm, soft to weak, smooth, crisped hairs absent or sparse, cottony hairs absent, glands sparse to common, sometimes obscured;
leaflets usually ± overlapping, central broadly obovate to suborbiculate, (0.5–)1.5–2.5(–3) × (0.5–)1.5–2.6(–3.2) cm, sessile to subsessile, base cuneate to rounded, margins revolute, distal 1/2–2/3(–3/4) incised 1/4–1/2 to midvein, teeth 3–6(–7) per side, ± approximate to ± distant, surfaces ± dissimilar, abaxial yellowish or grayish white, long hairs 1–2 mm, cottony-crisped hairs ± dense, adaxial grayish green, long hairs abundant to dense, crisped hairs absent, sparse, or obscured.
0–1.
(0–)1–2.
1–5(–7)-flowered.
(1–)2–7(–10)-flowered.
1–4 cm in flower, to 5 cm in fruit.
0.5–3(–4) cm in flower, to 4 cm in fruit.
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 ovate to oval-elliptic, 3–8 × 2–5 mm, 2/3 to as wide as sepals, margins strongly revolute, red glands absent;
hypanthium 5–7 mm diam.;
sepals 4–8 mm, apex ± acute;
petals (5–)7–15 × 7–16 mm, significantly longer than sepals;
filaments 1.8–2.1 mm, anthers 0.7–0.8 mm;
carpels 150–250, apical hairs usually absent, rarely present (cottony), styles narrowly conic to tapered, ± papillate-swollen on proximal 1/5–1/2, 0.9–1.1 mm.
1.1–1.5 mm.
0.9–1.3 mm.
= 56, 63; 28, 42, 49, 70 (Asia, Europe).
= 14.
Potentilla nivea
Potentilla villosa
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 villosa is the only documented diploid species of sect. Niveae in North America and, almost certainly, it is fully sexual. It is a characteristic species of coarse-grained beaches and coastal cliffs from southwestern British Columbia to western Alaska and the Russian Far East, and also occurs on scattered mountains in the Olympic Peninsula and Cascade Range of Washington and Oregon (providing the higher elevational extreme). These southern populations, which have been called var. parviflora, tend to be smaller, more delicate, less hairy plants in general, with fewer and smaller flowers. At least some plants in some southern populations also have cottony hairs on the carpels.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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