Potentilla wheeleri
Encyclopedia
Potentilla wheeleri is a species of cinquefoil
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 Kern cinquefoil. It is native to the Sierra Nevada and nearby ranges 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 it has been reported from Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 and Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

. Its habitat includes moist areas in mountainous regions. This tuftlike plant produces spreading, decumbent stems with leaves sometimes arranged in a rosette about the 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 hairy stems reach a maximum length near 25 centimeters. The rough-haired leaves are palmate, each divided into five wedge-shaped leaflets which are lined or tipped with teeth. 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 with yellow petals each a few millimeters long.

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