Austin’s drymocallis or wood beauty

Potentilla glandulosa Lindley var. austiniae Jepson, Fl. Calif. 2: 181. 1936 (as austinae)

Stems (0.4–)1.5–4.5(–6.5) dm; base sparsely to densely short-hairy, sometimes moderately septate-glandular. Inflorescences (2–)5–30(–50)-flowered, (1/6–)1/4–1/2(–4/5) of stem, wide, branch angles (10–)20–40(–50)°. Pedicels 2–20(–30) mm, sparsely to ± densely short-hairy, usually eglandular, sometimes sparsely to moderately septate-glandular. Petals (cream-white) pale to bright yellow.

Flowering May–Jul(–Aug) Rocky seasonally moist places, meadows; 900–2800 m; Calif., Nev., Oreg.

Variety austiniae was erroneously treated as Potentilla glandulosa subsp. ashlandica (Greene) D. D. Keck (B. Ertter 1993); it now is understood to be a separate entity. As here defined, it is the common large-petaled, open-flowered Drymocallis of northern California and adjacent Oregon and Nevada, differing from var. lactea in its more widely branched inflorescences and usually pale to bright yellow petals. The boundary between the two varieties is unclear, in part because petal color is uncertain on herbarium specimens. Some collections from Steens Mountain, Oregon, are transitional to D. pseudorupestris var. saxicola. Occasional populations in northern California that combine the morphology of var. austiniae with more glandular vestiture on pedicels and stems might indicate introgression with D. ashlandica or D. pseudorupestris.