Potentilla ID

Submitted by Lori S. on Thu, 02/11/2010 - 22:50

Though I love seeing them, I'm afraid I haven't paid close enough attention to identify the various alpine potentilla species that occur in the eastern slope Rockies in south-central Alberta (Kananaskis Prov. Park, Banff N.P.). However, I wonder if someone might recognize this one on sight?

The plant is up to about 10 cm in height; the leaves are basal and trifoliate; the flowers are mostly solitary but can be branched with up to 2 (probably 3) flowers; petals are longer than sepals. Unfortunately, I did not turn over the leaves to judge the hairiness! Could it be Potentilla uniflora?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

Comments

Submitted by Boland on Fri, 02/12/2010 - 17:30

I think it is uniflora....I remember seeing this one in the Rockies and coming to the conclusion it was uniflora.

Submitted by Kelaidis on Thu, 02/25/2010 - 08:35

With the altitude, flower shape and trefoil leaves, P. uniflora does seem plausible..but Wow! that one is HUGE: in the Southern Rockies it is almost always stemless (barely 1" tall!)...I wonder if this is a hybrid?

Submitted by Lori S. on Thu, 02/25/2010 - 08:42

Thanks, Panayoti.
If it is helpful to know re. a possible ID, the trifoliate alpine potentillas that occur here are P. hyparctica, P. nivea, P.ovina (3 to 5 leaflets), P. uniflora, P. villosa, and P. hookeriana (with 3-5 leaflets), according to Moss & Packer (Flora of Alberta).  I have gotten rather lost in the written descriptions, and have not found really useful photos for most of these species .. hence my confusion.     ???

P.S. I also posted another potentilla, which may well also be P. uniflora... the leaf shape is very similar to this one but they are densely hairy.  I suppose it could just be individual difference??