Potentilla gracilis var. fastigiata

Slender cinquefoil

Family: Rosaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Slender cinquefoil is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountains, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Great Basin in open forests and dry meadows at elevations of 800 to 3,500 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces pale yellow flowers with petals 4 to 7 millimeters long. Growing with stems 20 to 50 centimeters tall and variable hair patterns ranging from spreading to appressed, it forms a clumped perennial habit. Its basal leaves feature a central leaflet 20 to 60 millimeters long, with surfaces equally hairy and edges toothed less than halfway to the midvein, with teeth widest at their base. The plant exhibits significant chromosome variation, with counts ranging from 52 to 109.

Habitat: Common. Generally open forest, dry meadows

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 800-3500 m

Bioregions: NW (exc sw), CaR, SNH, Teh, TR, PR, GB.

California counties: Fresno, Lassen, Inyo, Mono, Tuolumne, Alpine, Calaveras, El Dorado, Tulare, Butte, Del Norte, Nevada, Madera, San Bernardino, Plumas, Trinity, Lake, Mariposa, Siskiyou, Los Angeles, San Diego, Placer, Riverside, Kern, Tehama, Sierra, Modoc, Amador, Humboldt, Glenn, Mendocino, Shasta, Yuba, Ventura

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.