Woolly Cinquefoil

Potentilla hippiana Lehm. Stirp. Pug. 2 : 7. 1830
Potentilla leucophylla Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 2 : 197. 1827. Not P. leucophylla Pall. 1773. Potentilla le?ieophylla Torr.; Eat. Man. ed. 5. 344. 1829. [Probably a misprint for leucophylla.] Potentilla dealbata Dougl.; Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 1 : 188, as synonym. 1833. Potentilla Pennsylvania Hippiana T. & G. Fl. N. Am. 1 : 438. 1840.
Perennial, with a woody root and short caudex ; stem erect, 3-5 dm. high, more or less silky-can escent or white with appressed hairs, leafy, dichotomously branched above, the branches ascending ; stipules 1-2 cm. long, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, subentire ; basal leaves several, the petioles about 5 cm. long, leaflets 7-11 ; stem-leaves usually several, short-petioled, 3-7-foliolate ; leaflets gradually diminishing downward, whiteor grayishsilky on both sides and tomentose beneath, obovate or cuneate-oblong, 2-5 cm. long, deeply obtusely toothed, venose beneath, if at all only slightly decurrent on the rachis, the upper often confluent, margins not revolute ; bractlets lanceolate, usually narrower than the sepals, but often nearly equaling them in length, acute ; sepals ovate-lanceolate, 5-7 mm. long, acute; petals 6-8 mm, long, a little exceeding the calyx, obovate, retuse; stamens about 20 ; pistils many ; styles filiform.
Type locality : Sources of the Platte [Colorado] .
Distribution : Plains and hills from Saskatchewan and Alberta to New Mexico and Arizona.