Potentilla glandulosa
Encyclopedia
Potentilla glandulosa is a species of cinquefoil
known by the common name sticky cinquefoil. It is native to western North America from southwestern Canada to the southwestern United States, where it is widespread and can be found in many types of habitat. It is highly variable and there are many subspecies which intergrade and are not clearly defined. The plant is generally erect in form but it may be small and tuftlike, measuring just a few centimeters high, or tall and slender, approaching a meter in height. It may or may not have rhizome
s. It is usually coated in hairs, many of which are glandular, giving the plant a sticky texture. The leaves are each divided into several leaflets, with one long terminal leaflet and a few smaller ones widely spaced on each side. The inflorescence
is a cyme of 2 to 30 flowers which are variable in color and size. Each has usually five petals up to a centimeter long which may be white to pale yellow to gold.
The plant is more common after its habitat is cleared or disturbed, such as by wildfire
, clearcutting
, or heavy grazing
. It is an important food for several species of mice
, including the western harvest mouse
, cactus mouse
, and California mouse
.
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 sticky cinquefoil. It is native to western North America from southwestern Canada to the southwestern United States, where it is widespread and can be found in many types of habitat. It is highly variable and there are many subspecies which intergrade and are not clearly defined. The plant is generally erect in form but it may be small and tuftlike, measuring just a few centimeters high, or tall and slender, approaching a meter in height. It may or may not have rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
s. It is usually coated in hairs, many of which are glandular, giving the plant a sticky texture. The leaves are each divided into several leaflets, with one long terminal leaflet and a few smaller ones widely spaced on each side. 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 2 to 30 flowers which are variable in color and size. Each has usually five petals up to a centimeter long which may be white to pale yellow to gold.
The plant is more common after its habitat is cleared or disturbed, such as by wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
, clearcutting
Clearcutting
Clearcutting, or clearfelling, is a controversial forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Clearcutting, along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, is used by foresters to create certain types of forest ecosystems and to promote select species that...
, or heavy grazing
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
. It is an important food for several species of mice
New World rats and mice
The New World rats and mice are a group of related rodents found in North and South America. They are extremely diverse in appearance and ecology, ranging in from the tiny Baiomys to the large Kunsia...
, including the western harvest mouse
Western harvest mouse
The Western Harvest Mouse is a small neotomine mouse native to southwest British Columbia, most of the western United States extending continuously to west Texas, northeast Arkansas, northwest Indiana, southwest Wisconsin, the interior of Mexico to Oaxaca...
, cactus mouse
Cactus Mouse
The Cactus Mouse is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found in Mexico and the United States....
, and California mouse
California Mouse
The California Mouse is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is the only species in the Peromyscus californicus species group. It is found in north-western Mexico and central to southern California...
.