Greene’s drymocallis or wood beauty

Potentilla glandulosa Lindley var. reflexa Greene, Fl. Francisc., 65. 1891; Drymocallis glandulosa (Lindley) Rydberg subsp. reflexa (Greene) Soják; P. glandulosa subsp. reflexa (Greene) D. D. Keck

Stems 1.5–7.5 dm, base 1.5–3 mm diam. Leaves: basal (3–)6–20(–30) cm, leaflet pairs 3(–4); terminal leaflet ± broadly obovate, (1–)1.5–5(–7) × 1–3 cm, teeth usually double, rarely single, 6–16 per side, apex rounded to obtuse; cauline well developed or reduced, leaflet pairs 2–3. Inflorescences (2–)10–30-flowered, ± leafy or not, usually wide, branch angles (15–)25–55°. Pedicels 2–10 (proximal to 20) mm. Flowers: epicalyx bractlets narrowly elliptic, 1.5–4 × 0.5–1(–1.5) mm; sepals reflexed, (3–)4–6(–8) mm, apex usually obtuse, sometimes acute; petals reflexed, yellow, narrowly ovate or obovate, 3–4(–5) × 1.5–3 mm; filaments 0.5–1.5(–2) mm. Achenes 0.9–1.3 mm. 2n = 14.

Flowering May–Aug. Moist, somewhat shaded places, often somewhat disturbed; 400–2600 m; Calif., Nev., Oreg.; Mexico (Baja California).

At its morphologic extreme, var. reflexa is distinctive in its small, elliptic-oblanceolate, reflexed yellow petals, and widely branched inflorescences; however, in northern California and southern Oregon, var. reflexa and var. glandulosa completely intergrade. As circumscribed here, var. reflexa occurs at low to middle elevations in the mountains from northern Baja California, Mexico, and the Peninsular and Transverse ranges of southern California, through the Sierra Nevada to the mountains of northern California, barely entering adjacent Nevada and Oregon. Some disjunct collections from central Idaho approach this variety; their optimal disposition remains unclear.