[The Cinquefoils of the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington]

Graceful Cinquefoil, Five-finger Cinquefoil, Slender Cinquefoil

Potentilla gracilis var. gracilis

Synonyms: Potentilla longipedunculata, Potentilla macropetala

A close-up view of a flower of graceful cinquefoil as seen from along a tributary of Bowman Creek in the Klickitat State Wildlife Recreation Area in Klickitat County, Washington........June 17, 2011. The similar erect cinquefoil (Potentilla recta) has petals which are much ligher (a light canary yellow) and stem leaves that are erect and pressed closely to the axis of the stem.

Photo at right of Potentilla gracilis on the Major Creek Plateau, Columbia River Gorge.........June 30, 1991.

Characteristics:

Graceful cinquefoil is a perennial with several spreading to erect stems from 40-80 cm high and fan-like leaves. The herbage is variable, ranging from sparsely to copiously haired. The basal leaves are numerous with petioles up to 30 cm long and the blade usually palmately compound (although it may occasionally be pinnate). The 7-9 leaflets are oblanceolate or oblong-elliptical in shape and 3-8 cm long and with variable leaf margins which range from coarsely toothed with 5-6 teeth per cm to very deeply dissected almost to the midvein. The 1-2 stem leaves are smaller in size and usually consist of fewer leaflets.

The inflorescence is a many-flowered, often flat-topped cyme. The sepals are lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate with pointed tips and are 4-10 mm long. The 5 petals are yellow and obovate-obcordate in shape. They are slightly to considerably longer than the sepals. There are usually 20 stamens and the pistils are numerous.

Similar Species:

Silvery Cinquefoil: Potentilla argentea - Plants with whitish tomentose hairs on the ventral leaf surface. 20 stamens. Leafy stems, with few if any basal leaves. Flowers less than 1 cm broad.

Erect Cinquefoil: Potentilla recta - Plants with hirsute hairs, but lacking any tomentose hairs. Stamens 25 (up to 30). Leafy stems, with if any few basal leaves. Leaves held erect, fairly appressed to the stem. Flowers 1-2 cm broad.

Habitat:

Graceful cinquefoil may be found on moist soils in grasslands, meadows, and in the sagebrush desert, or in moist, open woodlands.

Range:

Graceful cinquefoil may be found from Alaska south along the Pacific coast to northern California, and south in the Sierra Nevada to Baja California. It is found eastward to Saskatchewan and the Dakotas, and south to New Mexico and Arizona.

In the Columbia River Gorge it may be found between the elevations of 100'-3000' from the western entrance to the gorge east to about Horsethief Butte State Park.

Close-up views of the underside (left) and upper leaf surfaces (right) of graceful cinquefoil as seen from along a tributary of Bowman Creek in the Klickitat State Wildlife Recreation Area in Klickitat County, Washington.........June 17, 2011.

Close-up view of the calyx and underside of the petals of graceful cinquefoil as seen from along a tributary of Bowman Creek in the Klickitat State Wildlife Recreation Area in Klickitat County, Washington..........June 17, 2011.

Potentilla gracilis on the Major Creek Plateau, Columbia River Gorge........June 30, 1991.

Paul Slichter