Potentilla morefieldii

Morefield's cinquefoil

Family: Rosaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

Morefield's cinquefoil is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native perennial found in central Sierra Nevada and northern White and Inyo Mountains in rocky alpine barrens at elevations of 3,300 to 4,000 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces white flowers with petals 4 to 6 millimeters long in small clusters of 5 to 15 blooms. Growing as a low-spreading plant with prostrate to decumbent stems 5 to 15 centimeters tall, it forms a compact tuft from a few-branched caudex. Its pinnate leaves have 2 to 4 leaflets on each side, with oblanceolate leaflets 5 to 20 millimeters long, densely white-woolly underneath and green and slightly hairy on top, with irregular 7 to 9 teeth along the edges. The small fruits are pale brown, approximately 1.8 millimeters long and smooth or slightly ridged.

Habitat: Rocky alpine barrens

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 3300-4000 m

Bioregions: c SNH (Coyote Ridge, Inyo Co.), n W&ampI (n White Mtns, Mono Co.).

California counties: Mono, Inyo

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