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Kern cinquefoil, Wheeler's cinquefoil

Mono cinquefoil, Pennsylvania cinquefoil, silky cinquefoil, strigose cinquefoil

Caudex branches

sometimes sheathed with marcescent whole leaves.

Stems

0.2–2.5 dm.

decumbent to ascending, (0.2–)0.5–1.5(–2.2) dm.

Basal leaves

palmate, 1.5–9.5 cm;

petiole 1–7 cm, long hairs abundant to dense, spreading to appressed, 1–2 mm, weak to stiff, glands ± abundant;

leaflets 5, central cuneate-elliptic to obovate, 0.5–2.5 × 0.3–1.5 cm, scarcely to distinctly petiolulate, distal 1/3 of margins evenly incised ± 1/4 to midvein, teeth 2–4(–5) per side, surfaces gray-green, long hairs abundant to dense, 1–1.5 mm, glands ± abundant, sometimes obscured.

usually palmate, rarely also ternate on same plant or subpalmate, (1–)2–6(–8) cm;

petiole (0.5–)1–2.5 cm, long hairs abundant to dense, ± appressed, 0.5–1.2 mm, stiff, verrucose, crisped hairs common, cottony hairs absent, glands sparse to abundant but usually obscured;

leaflets (3–)5–7, proximalmost separated by 0–2 mm, central ± obovate, (0.5–)1–1.5(–2) × (0.3–)0.5–0.8(–1) cm, petiolules 0–1 mm, distal 3/4 to nearly whole margin incised 3/4+ to midvein, teeth 2–4(–5) per side, (2–)3–6(–10) mm, apical tufts 0.5 mm, abaxial surfaces white, long hairs common to abundant, cottony-crisped hairs dense, short hairs and glands absent or obscured, adaxial grayish green, long hairs abundant, 0.5–1.5 mm, ± stiff, short-crisped (rarely ± cottony) hairs sparse to common, glands absent or sparse.

Cauline leaves

1–3.

Inflorescences

1–20-flowered.

(1–)3–10(–20)-flowered, congested or ± elongating in fruit, branch angle 5–30°.

Pedicels

0.5–1.5 cm.

0.2–0.7 cm, proximal to 1.3 cm.

Flowers

epicalyx bractlets lanceolate to ovate-elliptic, 1–3.5 × 1–1.5 mm;

hypanthium 2–4 mm diam.;

sepals 2–5 mm, apex ± acute;

petals ± paler abaxially, bright yellow adaxially, ± obcordate, 3–6 × 2–5 mm;

filaments 1–2 mm, anthers 0.5 mm;

carpels ca. 20, styles (1.2–)1.5–2 mm.

epicalyx bractlets narrowly elliptic, (1–)1.5–2.5(–3) × 0.5–1 mm;

hypanthium 3–4 mm diam.;

sepals 2–4(–5) mm, apex obtuse to bluntly acute, glands sparse, obscured;

petals pale yellow, not overlapping, 2–4 × 2–3 mm, ± equal to sepals (slightly longer than in Inyo County);

filaments 1–1.5 mm, anthers 0.3–0.5 mm;

carpels 30–50, styles 1–1.2 mm.

Achenes

1–1.5 mm, lightly rugose.

1–1.4 mm.

Short

hairs not well differentiated from long hairs, absent or sparse throughout.

Potentilla wheeleri

Potentilla pseudosericea

Phenology Flowering May–Sep. Flowering summer.
Habitat Sandy flats, streamsides, lake margins, open conifer woodlands, alpine fellfields Alpine fellfields, moist gravel, talus, on dolomite and quartzite
Elevation 1800–3500 m (5900–11500 ft) 3200–3600 m (10500–11800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Potentilla wheeleri is found in the southern Sierra Nevada and San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. Compact plants on the summit of Mount San Gorgonio, described by Jepson as var. paupercula, show no consistent difference to justify their taxonomic segregation. Variety viscidula Rydberg has been misapplied to Arizona populations now called P. rhyolitica. Plants identified as P. wheeleri (excluding P. rimicola) from the Sierra San Pedro Mártir (Baja California) stand as a distinct species, P. luteosericea Rydberg (= P. pinetorum Wiggins).

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

Potentilla pseudosericea is currently confirmed only from the central Sierra Nevada and Sweetwater and White mountains of California (B. Ertter 2008). The species is similar to P. modesta but has a more tightly strigose, silvery vestiture and more numerous and deeply incised leaflets.

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

Source FNA vol. 9, p. 185. FNA vol. 9, p. 209.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Potentilla > sect. Subviscosae Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Potentilla > sect. Rubricaules
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. 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. 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. 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
Synonyms P. wheeleri var. paupercula
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 11: 148. (1876) Rydberg: Monogr. N. Amer. Potentilleae, 98, plate 36, figs. 1–5. (1898)
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