Shrubby cinquefoil, a much-branched bush widely distributed in the Northern 

 Hemisphere, is sometimes called bush cinquefoil or shrub cinquefoil and is also 

 known locally as buckbrush, hardback, ninebark, and yellow rose. It occurs 

 in Europe and Asia and ranges in North America from Greenland and Labra- 

 dor to Alaska and south to California, New Mexico, Minnesota, Illinois, and 

 New Jersey. This js probably the only species of Dasiphora in North America, 

 although the narrow-leaved alpine form, which is commonly gnarled and 

 dwarfed, has been described as a distinct variety or species (D. fruticosa 

 tenuifolia, syn. Potentilla, tenwfolia). However, in view of the variations of 

 the species, it is questionable if this narrow-leaved form is worthy of a 

 separate name. 1 



Dasiphora, a small genus of about eight or nine species belonging to the 

 rose family (Rosaceae), is, with the single exception of shrubby cinquefoil, 

 confined to Asia. The name, derived from the Green dasus, shaggy, or thick 

 with hairs, and phoros, bearing, refers to the densely hairy "seeds". The spe- 

 cific name of shrubby cinquefoil, fruticosa, is a Latin adjective which means 

 shrubby or bushy. 



Shrubby cinquefoil is mostly from 10 to 24 inches high, but occasionally 

 reaches a height of 5 feet. With its profusion of yellow flowers produced from 

 June until frost, its hairy, grayish-green leaves pinnately divided into from five 

 to seven small, rather narrow, leaflets, and its peculiar reddish-brown, shreddy 

 bark, this shrub is but seldom confused with any other range plant. Shrubby 

 cinquefoil is very common in the West and is often so abundant locally that 

 it is the dominant browse species over small areas. Although essentially a 

 species of cool climates, moisture is apparently a greater limiting factor in its 

 distribution than temperature, since it extends over a wide altitudinal range, 

 occurring from the upper ponderosa pine belt to above timberline. It is char- 

 acteristic of open exposures, especially moist subalpine meadows and near cold 

 springs and seeps, although it is also commonly found in open timber. 



In general, this shrub has a relatively low palatability, usually rating from 

 practically worthless to fairly good for domestic livestock, although deer and 

 elk nibble it. This plant is usually not utilized extensively by game ; the leaves 

 have a bitter taste, but are good-sized and evergreen; these desirable characters 

 together with the form of this shrub would, undoubtedly, make it of consider- 

 able value on winter range. Unfortunately, however, it occurs chiefly on 

 summer range and is not available for winter use. On some overgrazed ranges, 

 especially in alpine meadows, where shrubby cinquefoil is one of the dominant 

 plants, it had been grazed rather closely, and the plants have assumed a hedge- 

 like appearance. Utilization to such an extent always suggests overstocking 

 and may indicate imminent if not actual depletion of the more palatable plants. 

 Exceptions to the relatively low palatability of shrubby cinquefoil apparently 

 prevail in parts of the Southwest, southwestern Montana, southeastern Idaho, 

 and Utah, where the species is fair to fairly good cattle and fairly good to good 

 sheep forage on closely cropped, but not overgrazed, summer-range meadows. 

 It is also palatable to deer and elk on some of the summer game ranges of 

 Montana, where it is rated eighteenth, among the most important browse species. 



In New England this species is sometimes an aggressive pest in agricultural 

 lands and, when once established, is difficult to eradicate. In the West, however, 

 the plant does not appear to be especially aggressive either in agricultural lands 

 or on the range. Rydberg 2 reports that the leaves of this species are used as 

 a substitute for tea in Russia. Meehan 3 states that the branches are sometimes 

 used in making brooms in parts of Europe and are equal to heath and birch 

 for such purpose. The plant is also valued for horticultural plantings both in 

 the United States and abroad, because it is easy of cultivation and is one of the 

 few shrubs which produce a profusion of attractive flowers. 



1 Dayton, W. A. IMPORTANT WESTERN BROWSE PLANTS. U. S. Dept. Agr. Misc. Pub. 

 101, 214 pp., illus. 1931. 



2 Rydberg. P. A. A MONOGRAPH OF THE NORTH AMERICAN POTENTILLEAE. Columbia Univ. 

 Dept. Bot. Mem., v. 2, 223 pp., illus. Lancaster, Pa. 1898. (Thesis, Ph. D., Columbia 

 University.) 



3 Meehan, T. THE NATIVE FLOWERS AND FERNS OF THE UNITED STATES IN THEIR BOTANI- 

 CAL, HORTICULTURAL, AND POPULAR ASPECTS. 2 V., illUS. Boston. 1878. 



