''Potentilla gracilis'', known as slender cinquefoil or graceful cinquefoil,
[Mackinnon/Pojar/Coupe. Plants of Northern British Columbia. BC Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing, 1992. ] is a species of
cinquefoil. It ranges from Alaska down the west coast of Canada and the United States, and Colorado.
Named
varieties are:
* ''Potentilla gracilis'' var. ''elmeri''
(Rydb.) Jeps. – combleaf cinquefoil
* ''Potentilla gracilis'' var. ''flabelliformis''
(Lehm.) Nutt.
This perennial herb is variable in morphology, growing several erect stems up to a meter tall
from a branching
caudex
A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695
In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, "caudex" is m ...
and
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 ...
unit. The leaves are
palmate and compound,
[ each divided into five to seven wide lance-shaped leaflets with toothed edges. The leaflets are hairy, with many more hairs on the undersides, making them lighter in color than the top surfaces. The basal leaves are borne on very long petioles. Leaves higher on the stem are smaller and reduced. The ]inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
is a cyme of several flowers, each with usually five sepals, lower bracts, and yellow petals.two-banded checkered skipper
''Pyrgus ruralis'', the two-banded checkered skipper, is a species of skipper butterfly (family Hesperiidae). It is found from southern British Columbia and the Rocky Mountains of SW Alberta, with populations south to central California, Nevada, ...
.[The Xerces Society (2016), ''Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects'', Timber Press.]
References
External links
Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
*
gracilis
{{rosaceae-stub