Potentilla argentea L.
silvery cinquefoil (silver cinquefoil)
Rosaceae (Rose family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Jamie Fenneman     (Photo ID #20844)


Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Potentilla argentea
Click here to view the full interactive map and legend

Species Information

General:
Perennial herb from a heavy woody stem-base; stems several, tufted, spreading to erect, 10-50 cm tall, very leafy, freely branched, white-woolly.
Leaves:
Basal leaves few, stalked, palmately compound; leaflets mostly 5, lanceolate, 1-2.5 cm long, deeply toothed to cleft above the middle into narrow teeth with rolled-under margins, greenish and silky-hairy on the upper surface, white-woolly beneath; stem leaves alternate, 5 to 10, similar but short-stalked to unstalked.
Flowers:
Inflorescence an open leafy terminal cluster of many stalked flowers; corollas yellow, bowl-shaped, the petals 5, egg-shaped, 2-4 mm long; calyces silky-hairy, 5-lobed, the lobes lance-egg-shaped, about as long as the petals, alternating with 5 narrower bractlets; ovaries superior, the styles thickened and glandular-warty at the base; stamens about 20.
Fruits:
Achenes, numerous, clustered, lopsided-egg-shaped, about 0.7 mm long, smooth or faintly net-veined. vol_7

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Illustration

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.

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Potentilla argentea

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

Avg

Min

Max

Elevation (metres)
923 0 1930
Slope Gradient (%)
30 0 230

Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]

208 5 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
2 0 7
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
D
# of field plots
 species was recorded in:
104
Modal BEC Zone Class
IDF

All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in

BG(2), BWBS(4), CWH(1), ESSF(10), ICH(13), IDF(33), MS(6), PP(8), SBPS(2), SBS(19)

Habitat and Range

Dry open ground and waste places in the lowland, steppe and lower montane zones; locally frequent in S BC, especially east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; introduced from Europe.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia