Montana Field Guide

Five-leaf Cinquefoil is an herbaceous perennial with erect or ascending stems that are 5-20 cm high and arising from a branched rootcrown. The numerous basal leaves have slender petioles and 3 or 5 deeply lobed, narrowly elliptic leaflets that are 1-2 cm long. The 1-2 alternate stem leaves are similar but usually have only 3 leaflets. The stems and lower leaf surfaces are densely covered with long, gray hairs, while the upper surfaces of leaves are covered with sparse, silky hairs. Several stalked flowers are borne in a branched, somewhat crowded inflorescence. The bowl-shaped flowers have 5 broadly lance-shaped, long-hairy sepals that are 3-4 mm long, 5 yellow, oblong petals that are 4-5 mm long with shallowly lobed tips, 20 stamens, and numerous pistils. The slender style has a bumpy, thickened base and is attached near the top of the nearly smooth, brown achene that is 1-2 mm long.

Flowering in July, fruiting in August.

There are many similar-appearing species of POTENTILLA. A technical key and hand lens or microscope are required for positive determination. P. CONCINNA usually has some leaves with 7 leaflets and rarely any with 3; P. UNIFLORA rarely has more than 3 leaflets.

Dry, gravelly soil of exposed ridges and slopes in the montane to alpine zones.

POLLINATORS
The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap: Bombus bifarius, Bombus fervidus, Bombus frigidus, Bombus rufocinctus, Bombus occidentalis, Bombus pensylvanicus, Bombus impatiens, and Bombus flavidus (Thorp et al. 1983, Wilson et al. 2010, Colla and Dumesh 2010, Colla et al. 2011, Koch and Strange 2012, Koch et al. 2012, Williams et al. 2014).

STATE THREAT SCORE REASON
Threat impact not assigned because threats are not known (MTNHP Threat Assessment 2021).