k_hamilton 的最愛

Keyed using Kershaw & Allen 2020 which follows the 2014 Flora of N. America treatment that elevated P. hippiana var. effusa to species level, thus P. effusa.

-abundant cottony hairs on both sides of leaves (= a gray-aspect plant)
-side leaflets often unevenly paired, and secondary leaflets can be interspersed
-averages 4-9 teeth/side of leaflet, with a max. distal tooth edge of ~ 4mm
-upper leaflet pair not generally decurrent
-flowering stems tend to have relatively more cauline leaves (2-6+)
-epicalyx bracelets are relatively sparsely hairy and tend to be nearly hairless at the tips, have white cottony hairs towards the bases, generally don't have sericeous hairs, and are slender, linear-shaped and shorter - this all relative to the sepals

This plant had a few departures from the FNA description, but I'm not going to quibble since it's possible the FNA author didn't have a lot of Canadian material to examine:
-styles measured in at ~2.5 mm instead of the max. given of 2.1 mm
-one of the terminal leaflets measured ~4 cm, where the max. length given for leaflets is 3 cm
-the inflorescence looks to have > than 30 flowers
http://floranorthamerica.org/Potentilla_effusa

P. hippiana has these contrasting features:
-upper surface of leaves tend to be green, without cottony white hairs, so the leaves appear bicolor and the plant has a green aspect
-leaflets are generally evenly paired and without secondary leaflets
-average of 7-12 teeth/side (same max. distal edge of 4 mm)
-upper leaflet pair generally decurrent
-cauline leaves generally fewer (1) 2-3
-epicalyx bractlets tend to be more densely hairy throughout, even out to the tips, with abundant sericeous hairs, and relatively fewer or no white cottony hairs; shape a little wider and a little longer relative to P. effusa, but length still < sepals
-overall the plant & its parts tending to be a bit larger than P. effusa (larger leaflets to 6 cm max. for example)
-style max. length 2.5 mm
http://floranorthamerica.org/Potentilla_hippiana

2024-03-22 Update: The P. effusa plant in this obs. keys very nicely but it turns out that many AB plants are intergraded with P. hippiana and so the two become hard to separate, unlike out east where it is much clearer. Oh well!

Collected by permit.

EVSC380
Similar to A. frigida, A. campestris caudata also has feathery leaves, but they are not as finely dissected. Very slender panicle. The plant is not nearly as silvery-looking due to fewer hairs being present. This plant was found on the knoll of a hill, sandy soil was present.
Common Plants of the Western Rangelands, Volume 3

Tufted plant, inflorescence of multiple widely-spaced gynecandrous spikes, lower spikes have elongated portions of male flowers, perigynia relatively wide & winged and with flattened beaks that have bristly margins, female scales nearly covering peri, stigmas two. No field pics.
For submission to UBC.

Neither the Illustrated Flora of BC nor the Flora of N. America keys are really clear for this, so it's a bit hard to separate from C. cusickii, but I went with C. prairea due to the prolonged sheaths and the very short ligules.

Generally, you have a large tufted plant with long stems, very long narrow leaves, "coppery" colouring on the mouth of the sheath, drooping branched heads (refer to FNA descriptions, not the key in Ill. Flora of BC, C. prairea does have a branched inflorescence), spikes androgynous, female scales nearly covering the perigynia, peri with a long beak, veined abaxially but not adaxially, achenes "broadly trullate-ovate", etc.

There's just one field photo, it shows habitat and also some of the plants if you zoom to the lower centre part of the photo you can see the arching drooping stems and heads.

For submission to UBC.