''Potentilla johnstonii'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common name sagebrush cinquefoil. It is native to

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, where it has been collected from only one spot in the

Quinn Canyon Range The Quinn Canyon Range is a remote group of mountains in northeastern Nye County, and western Lincoln County in central Nevada in the western United States. Adaven is the only settlement in the mountains, now abandoned. It is closely associated ...

of Nye County.''Potentilla johnstonii''.
The Nature Conservancy. This plant has been known for decades but

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

specimens have been labeled a variety of ''

Potentilla concinna ''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 peren ...

''. They are actually specimens of a separate species and the plant was described to science in 2006. The plant has stems about 15 centimeters long. The leaves are borne on hairy petioles. Each is made up of a few leaflets with toothed tips. 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 ...

contains up to 11 flowers with yellow petals each about half a centimeter long.Soják, P. (2006)
Two new American species of ''Potentilla'' (Rosaceae). (Notes on Potentilla XXIII.)
''Thaiszia Journal of Botany'' 16 93-97.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7234852 johnstonii Flora of Nevada Natural history of Nye County, Nevada Plants described in 2006