Potentilla drummondii
Encyclopedia
Potentilla drummondii is a species of cinquefoil
known by the common name Drummond's cinquefoil. It is native to North America from Alaska
to California
, where it grows in many types of moist habitat. It is perhaps better described as a species complex
containing many intergrading subspecies that readily hybridize with other Potentilla species. The plant is variable, growing decumbent or erect, small and tufted or up to 60 centimeters tall, hairless to woolly. The leaves are divided into several leaflets, which may be cut into lobes or toothed. The inflorescence
is a cyme of several flowers. Each has a small corolla of yellow petals, each petal one half to one centimeter in length.
Potentilla
Potentilla is the genus of typical cinquefoils, containing about 500 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbs in the rose family Rosaceae. They are generally Holarctic in distribution, though some may even be found in montane biomes of the New Guinea Highlands...
known by the common name Drummond's cinquefoil. It is native to North America from Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where it grows in many types of moist habitat. It is perhaps better described as a species complex
Cryptic species complex
In biology, a cryptic species complex is a group of species which satisfy the biological definition of species—that is, they are reproductively isolated from each other—but whose morphology is very similar ....
containing many intergrading subspecies that readily hybridize with other Potentilla species. The plant is variable, growing decumbent or erect, small and tufted or up to 60 centimeters tall, hairless to woolly. The leaves are divided into several leaflets, which may be cut into lobes or toothed. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a cyme of several flowers. Each has a small corolla of yellow petals, each petal one half to one centimeter in length.