Potentilla subjuga
Potentilla sierrae-blancae
Colorado cinquefoil
Sierra blanca cinquefoil
(0.8–)1–2.5(–3.5) dm.
0.2–1 dm, lengths 1–1.5 times basal leaves.
usually palmate with additional lateral leaflets, sometimes pinnate, 3–10(–14) cm;
petiole 1.5–5 cm, vestiture seasonally dimorphic, long hairs abundant, spreading on first-formed leaves, tightly appressed to ascending on later-formed leaves, 1–2 mm, ± stiff (especially on later-formed leaves), cottony and crisped hairs usually absent, glands absent or sparse;
leaflets (3–)5 at tip of leaf axis plus 1(–2) additional pair(s) separated from tip by 3–20 mm, on distal 1/10–1/3(–1/2) of leaf axis, largest leaflets oblanceolate-oblong, (0.5–)1.5–2.5(–3) × 0.3–1 cm, ± whole margin incised 1/2–2/3(–3/4) to midvein, teeth (2–)4–9 per side, usually touching to strongly overlapping, sometimes separate, 2–6 mm, surfaces usually strongly dissimilar (less so on first-formed leaves), abaxial usually white, straight hairs ± abundant (mostly on veins), 1–2 mm, cottony or crisped/cottony hairs ± dense (sparser on first-formed leaves), glands absent or obscured, adaxial green (to grayish), straight hairs sparse to common, 0.5–1.5 mm, cottony and crisped hairs absent, glands sparse.
palmate, 2–8 cm;
petiole 0.5–5 cm, straight hairs sparse to abundant, sometimes absent, ± appressed, 2–3 mm, usually ± stiff, cottony hairs absent, glands absent;
leaflets (3–)4–5, at tip of leaf axis, separate, proximal pair separated from others by 0(–1) mm of leaf axis, central leaflets narrowly cuneate-oblanceolate, 0.8–2.2 × 0.2–0.5 cm, petiolules 0(–1) mm, less than distal 1/4 of margins incised 1/2–3/4 to midvein, teeth 1(–2) per side, ± separate, 1–2 mm, surfaces similar, green, straight hairs mostly absent (except on margins), appressed, 1–2 mm, stiff, cottony hairs absent, glands absent, rarely sparse.
1–3.
3–20(–30)-flowered.
solitary flowers or 2–3-flowered.
0.5–2 cm (proximal to 3 cm).
1–4 cm.
epicalyx bractlets narrowly to broadly lanceolate, 2–5(–6) × 1–1.5 mm;
sepals 4–7 mm, apex acute to acuminate;
petals 4–8 × 4–8 mm;
filaments (0.5–)1–2 mm, anthers 0.3–0.8 mm;
carpels 15–30, styles filiform to filiform-tapered, ± papillate-swollen in less than proximal 1/5, 1.5–2 mm.
epicalyx bractlets narrowly to widely elliptic-ovate, 2–3.5 × 1–1.5 mm;
hypanthium 3–5 mm diam.;
sepals 3–5 mm, apex obtuse to acute;
petals 5–7 × 4–6 mm;
filaments 1–2 mm, anthers 0.4–0.8 mm;
carpels 5–20, styles 2 mm.
1.2–1.6 mm.
1.5 mm, smooth.
Potentilla subjuga
Potentilla sierrae-blancae
Potentilla subjuga is centered in the high mountains of Colorado and barely enters New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Collections from Alberta also apparently belong to this species, but all known collections from Wyoming have been identified as different taxa, at least one currently undescribed. At its most distinctive, P. subjuga is easily recognized by its unique leaf division, with five palmate leaflets subtended by an additional pair (or two) of lateral leaflets. Southern populations, however, are more likely to have only three apical leaflets. The leaflets tend to be strongly bicolored with overlapping teeth, in contrast to most sympatric pinnate species. Petiole vestiture is also distinctive in being seasonally dimorphic, with long hairs on first-formed leaves spreading to ascending and those on later formed leaves tightly appressed, as well as more conspicuously verrucose. Unresolved infraspecific variation exists, and field observations suggest that P. subjuga readily hybridizes with sympatric species, creating a swarm of intermediate specimens.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Of conservation concern.
Potentilla sierrae-blancae is restricted to the White Mountains, Lincoln and Otero counties. P. A. Rydberg (1898, 1908d) and B. C. Johnston (1985) placed P. sierrae-blancae in sect. (or group) Aureae; the species fits well in sect. Concinnae, combining the few-flowered inflorescence of P. angelliae with the tridentate leaflets of P. bicrenata and P. johnstonii.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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USDA Plants Database
