Potentilla pensylvanica

(Prairie Cinquefoil)

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Potentilla pensylvanica, Four Mile Area, Chaffee Co. 0185

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Potentilla pensylvanica, Four Mile Area, Chaffee Co. 0186

Scientific Name Potentilla pensylvanica USDA PLANTS Symbol POPE8
Common Name Prairie Cinquefoil ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. 24736
Family Rosaceae (Rose) SEINet
Reference
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Description Life zones and habitat: Foothills to alpine (5300 to 13000 ft.); dry areas in fields, prairies, meadows.
Plant: Perennial 2 to 14 inches tall; a few or more erect or sometimes decumbent, grayish-green stems.
Leaves: Basal leaves up to 8 inches long, pinnately-compound; upper surface usually greenish, lower surface nearly white; 5-9 (sometimes 11) oblanceolate, leaflets, 1/2 to 1-1/4 inches long, the lower ones smaller and the upper 3 larger; leaflets cleft to about halfway with about 10 lobes. A few stem leaves.
Inflorescence: Numerous yellow 5-petaled flowers in branched, open cyme, each blossom surrounded by leaf-like green sepals.
Bloom Period: June to August.
References: "Flora of Colorado" by Jennifer Ackerfield, SEINet and US Forest Service, Guide to the Common Potentilla Species of the Blue Mountains Ecoregion
BONAP Distribution Map


Map Color Key
Colorado Status:
Native

© Tom Lebsack 2024

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