Potentilla pseudosericea
Encyclopedia
Potentilla pseudosericea is a species of cinquefoil
known by the common name silky cinquefoil. It is native to the Sierra Nevada of California
and mountain ranges just to the east, where its distribution extends into Nevada
. It grows in rocky mountainous habitat. It is a small plant forming mats or tufts in rock cracks and talus
, its short stem growing from a caudex
. The leaves are generally palmate, divided into five leaflets. The leaflets are deeply lobed along the edges and woolly in texture, coated in white or silvery hairs. The inflorescence
is a cluster of a few yellow flowers with petals around 3 millimeters long each.
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 silky cinquefoil. It is native to the Sierra Nevada of 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...
and mountain ranges just to the east, where its distribution extends into Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. It grows in rocky mountainous habitat. It is a small plant forming mats or tufts in rock cracks and talus
Scree
Scree, also called talus, is a term given to an accumulation of broken rock fragments at the base of crags, mountain cliffs, or valley shoulders. Landforms associated with these materials are sometimes called scree slopes or talus piles...
, its short stem growing from a caudex
Caudex
A caudex is a form of stem morphology appearing as a thickened, short, perennial stem that is either underground or near ground level . It may be swollen for the purpose of water storage, especially in xerophytes...
. The leaves are generally palmate, divided into five leaflets. The leaflets are deeply lobed along the edges and woolly in texture, coated in white or silvery hairs. 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 cluster of a few yellow flowers with petals around 3 millimeters long each.