General:
Annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial herb from a taproot and stem-base; stems stout, decumbent to ascending, 40-70 cm long/tall, leafy, from smooth below to long-hairy above.
Leaves:
Basal leaves few, short-stalked, oblong-egg-shaped, pinnately compound; leaflets 5 to 11, elliptic to oblong, 1-3 cm long, coarsely round-toothed; stem leaves alternate, several to many, the middle ones larger than the basal.
Flowers:
Inflorescence an open, leafy-bracted, terminal cluster of several to many stalked flowers; corollas yellow, saucer-shaped, the petals 5, broadly egg-shaped, 3-4 mm long, about as long as the calyx-lobes; calyces long-hairy, 5-lobed, the lobes triangular-egg-shaped, alternating with 5 longer narrower bractlets; ovaries superior, the styles thickened toward the base; stamens (10-15) 20.
Fruits:
Achenes, numerous, clustered, lopsided-egg-shaped with a prominent wedge-shaped, corky crest along one edge, about 1 mm long, slightly wavy-wrinkled.
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 paradoxa Nutt.