{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Speciesbox |image = Potentilla_breweri,_cirque_site,_side.png |image_alt = ''P. breweri'' in the wild |image2 = Potentilla_breveri_04.jpg |image2_alt = Close-up view of ''P. breweri'' leaves |status = G4 |status_system = TNC |status_ref = <ref name="NatureServe">NatureServe Explorer: https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.1132504/Potentilla_breweri</ref> |genus = Potentilla |species = breweri |authority = Egger & S. Malaby |synonyms = * ''Potentilla drummondii'' subsp. ''breweri'' {{au|(S. Watson) Ertter}} * ''P. drummondii'' var. ''breweri'' {{au|(S. Watson) N. H. Holmgren}} * ''P. plattensis'' var. ''leucophylla'' {{au|Greene}} |synonyms_ref = <ref name="FNA">{{cite book |last=Ertter |first=Barbara |date= 2015 |editor=Flora of North America Editorial Committee |title=Flora of North America North of Mexico |volume=9 |publisher= Oxford University Press |chapter=''Potentilla breweri'' |isbn= 978-0195340297 |url= http://floranorthamerica.org/Potentilla_breweri |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231024231928/http://floranorthamerica.org/Potentilla_breweri |archive-date=2023-10-24 |access-date=2023-10-24 }}</ref> }}

'''''Potentilla breweri''''' is a species of ''Potentilla'' known by the common name '''Brewer's cinquefoil'''.

It is native to western North America, with populations scattered from southern Washington to south-central California and from the Pacific cordillera inland to the mountains of the Great Basin. Its greatest population density occurs in the Sierra Nevada, the high Cascade Ranges, and Steens Mountain.<ref name="FNA" />

==Description== ''P. breweri'' is a herbaceous perennial or near-subshrub growing from a sturdy, branched caudex. Its leaves are pinnately compound and covered in soft, tangled, woolly hairs, giving them a more or less silver-blue color. The exact shape of the leaf and the degree of hairiness can vary substantially between early-season leaves and those produced later in the year. The inflorescences are cymose and usually bear 2-15 flowers. Like most ''Potentilla'' species, its flowers have five bright yellow petals, 15 stamens, and numerous separate pistils, and are adapted for generalist pollination. Each flower produces a cluster of achenes if successfully pollinated.<ref name="FNA" />

It is a taxonomically difficult species that appears to hybridize frequently with other ''Potentilla'' spp. The boundaries of the resulting species complex are poorly-understood.

==Habitat and ecology== The plants are found in high-montane to subalpine meadow openings. They prefer seasonally-wet habitats with little competition for sunlight, such as rocky meadows and rock crevices, and are often found near lakes and streams. They range in altitude from {{convert|1500|to|3600|m}}.<ref name="FNA" /><ref name="Jepson">{{cite book|title=The Jepson manual: vascular plants of California|chapter= ''Potentilla''|last= Ertter|first= Barbara|page= 1191-1195|editor-last1=Baldwin |editor-first1= Bruce B.|editor-last2= Goldman|editor-first2= Douglas H.|editor-last3= Keil|editor-first3= David J.|editor-last4= Patterson|editor-first4= Robert|editor-last5= Rosatti|editor-first5= Thomas J.|editor-last6= Wilken|editor-first6= Dieter H.|publisher= University of California Press|edition= 2nd|year= 2012}}</ref>

==History== The ''P. breweri'' complex (''P. breweri, P. drummondii,'' and ''P. bruceae)'' was one of the case studies used in Clausen, Keck, and Hiesey's biosystematic work.<ref name="CKH">{{cite book|last= Clausen|first= Jens|last2= Keck|first2= D.D.|last3=Hiesey |first3= William|year=1941|title=Experimental Studies on the Nature of Species|volume=I. Effect of Varied Environments on Western North American Plants|publisher=Carnegie Institute of Washington|pages=452|isbn=9780608062204}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{commons category-inline|Potentilla drummondii subsp. breweri}} * [https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=39687 Jepson eFlora treatment] * [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250100311 Flora of North America treatment] ([http://floranorthamerica.org/Potentilla_breweri alternate site]) * [https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Potentilla+breweri CalPhotos image gallery]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q24192464}}

breweri Category:Flora of California Category:Flora of Oregon Category:Flora of Nevada Category:Flora of Washington (state) Category:Flora of the Cascade Range Category:Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Category:Flora of the Great Basin