Page authors: Don Knoke, David Giblin
Potentilla rubricaulis
red-stemmed cinquefoil, snow cinquefoil
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest along the border in north-central Washington; Alaska south to Washington, east to Manitoba.

Habitat: Sagebrush plains to mountain ridges.

Flowers: June-August

Growth Duration: Perennial

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Bumblebees, bees, flies, butterflies, beetles, moths, wasps

Description:
General:

Perennial from a branched crown, the 1-several flowering stems 2-5 dm. tall, decumbent to erect, pubescent and often woolly.

Leaves:

Leaves pinnate, strongly pubescent, greenish above but nearly white below; leaflets 5-9, the lower ones often reduced, the upper 3 the largest, oblong to oblanceolate-obovate, 1.5-3 cm. long, lobed 1/2-4/5 the way to the midrib into linear segments; stipules cleft.

Flowers:

Inflorescence of several-flowered, bracteate, narrow cymes, the bracts much reduced upward; calyx grayish-woolly and somewhat glandular, the 5 lobes triangular-lanceolate, 5 mm. long, about equal to the 5 bracteoles and yellow petals; stamens 20; pistils numerous; style subapical, 1 mm. long, thickened at the base, tapered to the tip.

Fruits:

Achene smooth, 1 mm. long.

Accepted Name:
Potentilla rubricaulis Lehm.
Publication: Nov. Stirp. Pug. 2: 11. 1830.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
Pentaphyllum effusum Lunell
Pentaphyllum hippianum Lunell
Potentilla altaica Bunge
Potentilla diffusa Gray
Potentilla filicaulis Rydb.
Potentilla nivea L. ssp. chionodes Hiitonen
Potentilla nivea L. var. macrophylla Ser.
Potentilla nivea L. var. pentaphylla Lehm. [ILBC]
Potentilla pennsylvanica var. hippiana T. & G.
Potentilla quinquefolia (Rydb.) Rydb. [HC]
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Potentilla rubricaulis in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database

WA Flora Checklist: Potentilla rubricaulis checklist entry

OregonFlora: Potentilla rubricaulis information

E-Flora BC: Potentilla rubricaulis atlas page

CalPhotos: Potentilla rubricaulis photos

1 photographs:
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