General:
Perennial herb from a stout branched stem-base covered with brown remains of old leaf-bases; stems 1 to several, tufted, spreading to erect, 15-50 cm tall, usually branched above, white-woolly and silvery-silky.
Leaves:
Basal leaves stalked, pinnately compound; leaflets 5 to 11, oblong, 2-5 cm long, coarsely sharp-toothed not more than halfway to the midrib, white-woolly or silvery-silky on both surfaces or greenish above; stem leaves alternate, 2 to 5, reduced upwards.
Flowers:
Inflorescence an open, terminal cluster of several to many stalked flowers; corollas yellow, bowl-shaped, the petals 5, egg-shaped, 4-8 mm long, shallowly notched or rounded at the tip; calyces woolly- and coarse-hairy, 5-lobed, the lobes lance-egg-shaped, slightly shorter than the petals, alternating with 5 narrowly lanceolate bractlets about the same length as the calyx-lobes; ovaries superior; stamens usually 20.
Fruits:
Achenes, numerous, clustered, lopsided-egg-shaped, 1.5 mm long, smooth.
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Potentilla hippiana var. diffusa A. Gray ex Lehm.
Potentilla leneophylla Torr. & James ex Eaton
Potentilla leucophylla Torr., non Pall.
Potentilla propinqua (Rydb.) Rydb.