[Cinquefoils: The Genera Comarum, Dasiphora, Drymocallis and Potentilla in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington]
Marsh Cinquefoil, Purple Cinquefoil, Purple Marshlocks
Comarum palustre
Synonyms: Comarum palustris var. villosum, Potentilla palustris, Potentilla palustris var. parvifolia, Potentilla palustris var. villosa, Potentilla palustris var. villosum
The photo above shows a close-up of the reddish-tinged sepals of marsh cinquefoil. Note the narrow, much smaller reddish petals between each sepal. Photographed in moist wetlands along the Willard Springs , Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge........July 31, 2008.
Characteristics:
Marsh cinquefoil is rhizomatous perennial with reddish stems
to 1 meter in length which either ascend, float, or are prostrate on the ground
where roots may take hold at the nodes. The herbage is smooth-surfaced below
and becoming hairy and purplish-glandular above. The basal leaves are pinnately
compound with 5-7 obovate, oblong, or elliptic-oblong leaflets from 3-6 cm long.
The margins are toothed, and the upper surface is light green while the lower
surface is paler with a few to numerous silky hairs.
The flowers are in open cymes, the 5 petals purple or a deep
wine red color. Individual petals are ovate-lanceolate to elliptic or spatulate
with pointed tips. The 5 sepals are ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate in shape,
7-11 mm long, and with pointed tips. There are about 25 stamens and many pistils.
Habitat:
Marsh cinquefoil is found in wet meadows, marshes, bogs, and
along the banks of creeks and margins from sea level to subalpine habitats.
Range:
Marsh cinquefoil may be found from Alaska south along the Pacific
coast to northern California and east to Labrador and Greenland, Ohio, Iowa,
and Wyoming.
A close-up sideview of the flower of marsh cinquefoil. Note the numerous clustered pistils with their long stigmas at the center of the flower plus the numerous spatulate stamens that ring the pistils. Photographed in moist wetlands along the Willard Springs , Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge........July 31, 2008.
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The 2 photos above show additional close-ups of the flowers of marsh cinquefoil as seen at Willard Springs in Conboy Lake NWR........July 31, 2008.
The photo above shows the reddish-tinged sepals of marsh cinquefoil. Photographed in moist wetlands along the Willard Springs Trail, Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge.......July 28, 2006.
The photo above shows the reddish-tinged sepals
of marsh cinquefoil. Photographed in moist wetlands along the Willard Springs
Trail, Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge........July 2, 2007.
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The glaucous dorsal surface (left and ventral surface (right) of a leaf of marsh
cinquefoil, Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge.......July 28, 2006.
The photo above shows a stem of marsh cinquefoil
spreading across a small irrigation channel near the Willard Springs Trail in
Conboy National Wildlife Refuge.........September 30, 2006.
Paul Slichter