Muqarrab Shah

Perennial, ascending herbs. Rootstock divided below, branched above. Stem 5-15 (-30) cm long, floccose-tomentose with some long straight hairs, 4-6 flowered. Leaves 5-foliate, digitate, petioles 5-10 cm long, floccose-tomentose with long straight hairs. Basal stipules oblong-linear, membranous, upper leafy, oblong-lanceolate. Leaflets variable, obovate, 2.0-3.5 x 0.8-1.6 cm, 8-16 dentate, upper surface sparsely tomentose, lower surface densely niveo-tomentose. Flowers 1.4-2.0 cm diam. Calyces pilose, outer oblong-elliptic, obtuse, inner ovate, acute. Stamens about 20. Carpels numerous, styles c. 1 mm long, subterminal, ± evenly thickened.

Type: Turkestan, Fergana, Jugum Alaicum Irope Sary-tasch, Alexeenko 1374 (LE).

A-8 Gilgit, Gharesa glacier base camp, 13 miles E of Nagar, 15,800 ft, dry sunny slopes, lateral moraine, flowers yellow, leaves white hairy on both sides, O. Polunin 6211 (B).

Distribution: Kyrgyzstan (Tien Shan), Tajikistan (Pamir Alai), China (Xinjiang), Pakistan and Kashmir.

Potentilla blanda Sojak may be mistaken for dwarf forms of Potentilla hololeuca Boiss. on the herbarium sheets since both these species are pentafoliate and have floccose-tomentose stems and petioles. Potentilla blanda, however, is clearly differentiated from Potentilla hololeuca wh en closely examined. The former has digitate leaves Whi le the latter has pinnate leaves with lower remote pair and thus they are in two different sections.

A rare species, found up to 4,800 m.