''Drymocallis arguta'', commonly known as the tall cinquefoil, prairie cinquefoil, or sticky cinquefoil, is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

native to North America. It was formerly included with the typical cinquefoils in the genus ''

Potentilla ''Potentilla'' is a genus containing over 300Guillén, A., et al. (2005)Reproductive biology of the Iberian species of ''Potentilla'' L. (Rosaceae).''Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid'' 1(62) 9–21. species of annual, biennial and perenni ...

''.

Description

The leaves are pinnately compound with an uneven number of leaflets, most commonly 7 to 11. Most leaves are found in a rosette at the base of the plant, but there are some leaves arranged alternately along the flowering stem. Leaves are densely covered in short and somewhat sticky hairs (

trichome Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a pla ...

s). The flowers are arranged in a tight cluster ( cyme) on a long stem from tall. They are strawberry-like, with five white or cream petals, five pointed green sepals between the petals, and a round head of

pistil Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

s in the center with more than 20

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s in a ring around it. Nectar is secreted from a ring below the pistils. The flowers are small and the nectar and pollen are easy for short-tongued insects to reach. Small short-tongued bees visit the flowers to gather or feed on pollen and nectar,

hoverflies Hover flies, also called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, whi ...

feed on pollen, and wasps occasionally feed on nectar. The pistils of pollinated flowers develop into a head of many small brown seeds, which are enclosed by a cup made up of the dried-up sepals. The root system is a

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

with short

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s at the surface, which allow the plant to form tight clumps. ''Drymocallis arguta'' is thought to be a

protocarnivorous plant A protocarnivorous plant (sometimes also paracarnivorous, subcarnivorous, or borderline carnivore), according to some definitions, traps and kills insects or other animals but lacks the ability to either directly digest or absorb nutrients from i ...

. In a 1999 experiment, several plants in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

were tested for the

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

syndrome, using the digestion of proteins as the diagnostic tool to determine which plants appeared to produce

protease A protease (also called a peptidase, proteinase, or proteolytic enzyme) is an enzyme that catalyzes (increases reaction rate or "speeds up") proteolysis, breaking down proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids, and spurring the ...

enzymes capable of breaking down potential prey. ''D. arguta'' displayed a capability to digest and absorb the ¹⁴C-labeled algal protein placed on its sticky trichomes. However, it is not known whether the digestive enzymes were produced by the plant itself or surface microbes.Spomer, G. G. (1999). Evidence of protocarnivorous capabilities in ''Geranium viscosissimum'' and ''Potentilla arguta'' and other sticky plants. ''International Journal of Plant Sciences'' 160(1) 98-101.

References

External links

''Potentilla arguta'' ssp. ''arguta''.
USDA PLANTS. {{Taxonbar, from=Q5309731 arguta Flora of North America Taxa named by Frederick Traugott Pursh