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

Potentilla pulcherrima Lehm.
pretty cinquefoil (beautiful cinquefoil)
Rosaceae (Rose family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Jamie Fenneman  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #30057)

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Distribution of Potentilla pulcherrima
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Species Information

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General:
Perennial herb from a thick, scaly, branched stem-base; stems several, tufted, erect or decumbent at the base, 30-80 cm tall, often branched, appressed- to spreading-hairy.
Leaves:
Basal leaves long-stalked, palmately to somewhat pinnately compound; leaflets 5 to 7 (9), lanceolate to oblong-elliptic, 2-8 cm long, finely, evenly and deeply saw-toothed, the teeth extending 1/5 to 1/2 the distance to the midvein, greenish and spreading-hairy above, greyish and hairier beneath; stem leaves alternate, reduced, 1 or 2.
Flowers:
Inflorescence an open, somewhat flat-topped, terminal cluster of several to many stalked flow ers; corollas yellow, bowl-shaped, the petals 5, heart-shaped, 6-10 mm long, shallowly notched at the tip; calyces hairy, 5-lobed, the lobes broadly lanceolate, 4-7 mm long, alternating with 5 shorter, narrowly lanceolate bractlets; ovaries superior; stamens 20.
Fruits:
Achenes, numerous, clustered, lopsided-egg-shaped, 1-2 mm long, greenish, smooth to faintly net-veined.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry to moist meadows, grasslands, rocky slopes, open forests, and roadsides and waste places in the montane zone; frequent in SE BC, E to AB and S to NV, AZ, NM and MX.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Potentilla pulcherrima

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 1165 1719 2216
Slope Gradient (%) 0 21 65
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
28 217 279
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
0 3 8
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
C
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
10
Modal BEC Zone Class
ESSF
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: AT(1), BAFA(1), ESSF(4), ICH(2), MS(2)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Potentilla camporum Rydb.
Potentilla gracilis var. pulcherrima (Lehm.) Fernald

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References