E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Potentilla glaucophylla Lehm. var. glaucophylla
blue-leaved cinquefoil
Rosaceae (Rose family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Hans Roemer  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #25715)

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Distribution of Potentilla glaucophylla var. glaucophylla
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Species Information

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General:
Perennial herb from a short stout rhizome and branched stem-base; stems slender, usually several, tufted, spreading to erect, 10-40 cm tall, smooth toward the base, appressed-hairy above.
Leaves:
Basal leaves long-stalked, palmately or pinnately compound; leaflets 5 to 7, oblong-lanceolate to egg-shaped, 1-3 (5) cm long, strongly toothed mostly above the middle, greenish or often glaucous blue-green and smooth to slightly hairy on the upper surface, generally appressed-hairy beneath; stem leaves alternate, 1 or 2.
Flowers:
Inflorescence an open terminal cluster of few to several (less than 20) stalked flowers; corollas yellow, bowl-shaped, the petals 5, heart-shaped, 5-10 mm long, shallowly notched at the tip; calyces silky-long-hairy, 5-lobed, the lobes lance-triangular, 4-7 mm long, alternating with 5 shorter, narrowly lanceolate bractlets; ovaries superior; stamens 20.
Fruits:
Achenes, numerous, clustered, lopsided-egg-shaped, about 1.5 mm long, brown, smooth to faintly net-veined.
Notes:
Two varieties occur in BC. These varieties appear to hybridize freely in SE BC, where numerous intermediates occur.

1. Leaves primarily palmately compound; leaflets deeply toothed; the common variety...................... var. diversifolia

1. Leaves more or less pinnately compound; leaflets dissected to base; plants of SE and SC BC, rare....................... var. perdissecta (Rydb.) C.L. Hitchc.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic to dry meadows, tundra, rocky slopes, gravel bars, grasslands and open forests in the montane to alpine zones; common throughout BC, except rare on the coast; N to S AK and YT; E to SK and S to UT, NM and CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

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General References