graceful cinquefoil

not listed

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

not listed

FAC - Facultative

FAC - Facultative

FAC - Facultative

Graceful cinquefoil is a 16″ to 36″ tall, erect, perennial forb that rises on usually several stems from a thick, branched caudex.

The stems are erect or ascending, stout, and covered with generally spreading hairs.

Most of the leaves are basal. Basal leaves are on long, hairy stalks. The are palmately divided into 5, 7, or 9 leaflets. The leaflets are ¾″ to 4¾″ long, though usually 1″ to 3″ long, and inversely lance-shaped or narrowly inversely egg-shaped with the attachment at the narrow end. The central leaflet of the basal leaf is 1¼″ to 2¾″ long. The upper surface of the leaf is green and sparsely hairy. The lower surface is densely covered with white, short, matted or tangled, woolly hairs. Neither surface has glandular hairs. The margins are deeply toothed around the entire margin, including near the base. The teeth are narrow, cut about ½ of the way to the midrib. The margins of these teeth/lobes are somewhat rolled backward toward the underside. Stem leaves are few, often just 1 or 2, alternate, and similar to the basal leaves, but smaller and often with only 3 leaflets.

The inflorescence is a flattened, open, branched cluster of many flowers at the end of the stem.

The flowers are ½″ to ¾″ wide. The 5 petals are yellow; ¼″ to ⅜″ long; inversely heart-shaped, broadest at the tip with two rounded lobes separated by a broad notch; and tapering to a narrow, wedge-shaped base. The 5 sepals are green, almost as long as the petals and alternate with the petals. The 5 bractlets are much shorter than the sepals when the flower is fully open. They alternate with the sepals and are hidden below the petals when the flower is viewed from above. There are 20 yellow stamens. There is no floral scent.

16″ to 36″

Yellow

Fanleaf cinquefoil (Potentilla gracilis var. fastigiata) stems are covered with generally appressed hairs. The central leaflet of the basal leaf is longer, 2″ to 3½″ long. The teeth are cut more than ¾ of the way to the midrib.

Northwest cinquefoil (Potentilla gracilis var. fastigiata) is a shorter plant, usually 8″ to 24″ in height. The stems are covered with spreading to appressed hairs. The central leaflet of the basal leaf is slightly shorter, ¾″ to 2⅜″ long. The upper and lower surfaces are more or less equally hairy. The teeth are cut less than ½ of the way to the midrib. The petals are shorter, ⅛″ to ¼″ long.

Dry to moist. Prairies, woods.

July to August

Sources

3, 4, 28, 29, 30.

USDA PLANTS shows this variety native to Minnesota, however no records can be found.

Native

Common names of the varieties of Potentilla gracilis are used inconsistently, sometimes seeming randomly shuffled. The common name usage for the varieties of Potentilla gracilis on MinnesotaSeasons.com follows ITIS.