Potentilla wheeleri

S. Watson

Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 11: 148. 1876.

Common names: Wheeler’s cinquefoil
Endemic
Synonyms: Potentilla wheeleri var. paupercula Jepson
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 9. Treatment on page 185. Mentioned on page 171, 183.

Short hairs not well differentiated from long hairs, absent or sparse throughout. Stems 0.2–2.5 dm. Basal leaves palmate, 1.5–9.5 cm; petiole 1–7 cm, long hairs abundant to dense, spreading to appressed, 1–2 mm, weak to stiff, glands ± abundant; leaflets 5, central cuneate-elliptic to obovate, 0.5–2.5 × 0.3–1.5 cm, scarcely to distinctly petiolulate, distal 1/3 of margins evenly incised ± 1/4 to midvein, teeth 2–4(–5) per side, surfaces gray-green, long hairs abundant to dense, 1–1.5 mm, glands ± abundant, sometimes obscured. Inflorescences 1–20-flowered. Pedicels 0.5–1.5 cm. Flowers: epicalyx bractlets lanceolate to ovate-elliptic, 1–3.5 × 1–1.5 mm; hypanthium 2–4 mm diam.; sepals 2–5 mm, apex ± acute; petals ± paler abaxially, bright yellow adaxially, ± obcordate, 3–6 × 2–5 mm; filaments 1–2 mm, anthers 0.5 mm; carpels ca. 20, styles (1.2–)1.5–2 mm. Achenes 1–1.5 mm, lightly rugose.


Phenology: Flowering May–Sep.
Habitat: Sandy flats, streamsides, lake margins, open conifer woodlands, alpine fellfields
Elevation: 1800–3500 m

Discussion

Potentilla wheeleri is found in the southern Sierra Nevada and San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. Compact plants on the summit of Mount San Gorgonio, described by Jepson as var. paupercula, show no consistent difference to justify their taxonomic segregation. Variety viscidula Rydberg has been misapplied to Arizona populations now called P. rhyolitica. Plants identified as P. wheeleri (excluding P. rimicola) from the Sierra San Pedro Mártir (Baja California) stand as a distinct species, P. luteosericea Rydberg (= P. pinetorum Wiggins).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Potentilla wheeleri"
Barbara Ertter +
S. Watson +
Subviscosae +
Wheeler’s cinquefoil +
1800–3500 m +
Sandy flats, streamsides, lake margins, open conifer woodlands, alpine fellfields +
Flowering May–Sep. +
Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts +
Potentilla wheeleri var. paupercula +
Potentilla wheeleri +
Potentilla sect. Subviscosae +
species +