Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Tall Cinquefoil
Drymocallis arguta
Rose family (Rosaceae)

This white or creamy-yellow flower is found in dry to moderately moist . Stems are tall and usually unbranched and leaves are and broken into five to seven . Leaves are similar to the very common, yellow-flowered Potentilla gracilis. D. arguta is not a common plant and it is difficult to find because it often grows in tall grasses. "Drymocallis" is Greek for "woodland trail." "Arguta," "sharp-," refers to the leaves.


©2010 Craig Althen, downloaded from the
University of Washington Burke Museum

Description

, 16-32" tall, with densely clustered creamy white or dull yellow flowers. Flowers with yellow centers atop stiff, lightly leaved stems. are with 5-9 sharp- arranged in pairs on the leafstalk. Stem leaves also with 3-5 smaller . hairs cover leaves and stems.

Field Marks

White flowers with yellow centers; hairy compound leaves.

© Al Schneider

A leaf is compound when multiple leaflets are on the same stem.

meadow -- Large grass and wildflower filled area with few, if any, trees.

A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.

serrate -- toothed with asymmetrical teeth pointing forward; like the cutting edge of a saw.

Glands are plant structures that secrete liquids, salts or other substances. Glands often appear as hairs with a drop of liquid at the end.

Like the teeth on a saw, leaves and other surfaces can have toothed edges.

pinnate -- A compound leaf with two rows of leaflets.

basal leaves -- a leaf that grows lowest on the stem of a plant.

leaflets -- Each little leaf-like thing in a compound leaf is a leaflet.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.