Potentilla cottamii is a rare species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names Cottam's cinquefoil and Pilot Range cinquefoil. It is native to Nevada and Utah in the United States. It occurs in the Pilot Range of Elko County, Nevada, and a small area of adjacent Utah.[2]

Potentilla cottamii

Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Potentilla
Species:
P. cottamii
Binomial name
Potentilla cottamii

This plant was first described in 1987. It is a perennial herb which forms a mat of leafy herbage around its caudex. The leaves are each divided into three toothed leaflets. The flowers often have five petals, but sometimes only four. They are oval or somewhat triangular in shape, 3 or 4 millimeters long, and yellow in color. At the center of the flower are 15 yellow stamens.[3]

This plant grows in cracks and crevices in rock walls and cliffs.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "NatureServe Explorer". NatureServe Explorer Potentilla cottamii. NatureServe. 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b Potentilla cottamii. The Nature Conservancy.
  3. ^ Holmgren, N. H. (1987). Two new species of Potentilla (Rosaceae) from the Intermountain region of western U.S.A. Brittonia 39(3) 340-44.
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