ern yarrow, sedges, needlegrasses, and bluegrasses. At times it is 

 common on drier sites, intermixed with sagebrush and snowberry. 

 Slimstem cinquefoil is grazed by all classes of livestock, as well as 

 by deer and elk. It ranks as one of the more palatable species of 

 cinquefoil, being rated as fair for sheep and goats, poor for cattle, 

 and fair to fairly good for deer and elk. Horses occasionally crop 

 the flower heads but seldom consume much of the foliage. This 

 species withstands heavy trampling and spreads aggressively in 

 moist, rich meadows and parks where heavy grazing has impaired 

 or depleted the better forage. Its abundance on many ranges is 

 beyond doubt indicative of range deterioration. 



Slimstem cinquefoil has several simple, few-leaved, erect or de- 

 cumbent stems arising from the crown (caudex) of a. woody taproot. 

 The young leaves emerging from the bud are densely white-hairy. 

 Basal leaves are numerous, principally with seven digitately ar- 

 ranged leaflets about three-fourths to 1*4 inches long, broader above 

 and coarsely toothed on the margins; stem leaves are very limited 

 and almost stalkless. All leaves, when mature, are green and spar- 

 ingly hairy on the upper surface but silvery beneath with fine, dense 

 whitish hairs. Stems and leafstalks are usually somewhat densely 

 loose-hairy. The two bracts (stipules) at the base of the lower 

 leafstalks are large, thin and brown in color, while those of the stem 

 leaves are large, entire, and leaflike. The yellow to orange flowers, 

 about one-half of an inch wide, are borne in open, few-flowered 

 clusters. The slender flower stalks (pedicels), to which the name 

 filipes (from the Latin fil'uan, thread, and pes, foot or stalk) refers, 

 are silky-hairy and slightly sticky (glandular-hairy). 



Blueleaf cinquefoil (P. glaucophyl'la), a mostly low, perennial 

 herb with a woody root, extends from British Columbia to Sas- 

 katchewan and southward to New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada. It 

 inhabits mountain valleys and meadows of the aspen-spruce and 

 alpine belts to above timber line and has been collected at an ele- 

 vation of 13,000 feet in southwestern Colorado. It commonly grows 

 in limestone loams, rich in humus, of moist meadows, parks, and 

 open timber. Its stand is usually scattered, frequently in association 

 with sedges, buttercups, bunchgrass, needlegrasses, and mountain- 

 dandelions. Although lairly common and abundant, this species is 

 not important for forage, being only fair for sheep, and from worth- 

 less to poor for cattle and horses. There is evidence that deer and 

 elk graze it lightly. On a number of heavily utilized ranges blue- 

 leaf cinquefoil has increased materially, and in most places where 

 its stand is thick, range depletion is probably indicated. This herb, 

 from 6 to 8 (rarely 16) inches in height, is smooth and hairless 

 below but very sparsely hairy above; the white hairs are closely 

 appressed to the stems, leaves, and calyx. The leaves are mainly 

 basal with rather long petioles, although a few small, almost stalk- 

 less ones occur along the stem; all have five fingerlike (digitate) 

 leaflets. The leaflets, varying from one-half to 2 inches in length, 

 are wedge-shaped at the base, prominently notched above, and spar- 

 ingly hairy when young. Soon, however, they become smooth and 

 hairless with a whitish bloom (glaucous) ; the plant derives its 

 specific name from this character. The yellow flowers are borne in 

 loose, open clusters at the ends of the stems. 



