ELEMENT STEWARDSHIP ABSTRACT FOR POTENTILLA TRIDENTATA November 29, 1990 Stewardship Abstract No.: 015 By Alfred E. Schuyler For: State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy Division of Parks and Forestry Office of Natural Lands Management CN 404 Trenton, New Jersey 08625 Element Stewardship Abstract Element Stewardship Abstracts (ESA's) are prepared to provide land managers and other conservation workers with current biological and management related information on those species and natural ecosystems that are most important to protect or for which control is most needed. The abstracts organize and summarize data from numerous sources, including the literature and from researchers and managers actively working with the species or ecosystem. The ESA format was originally developed by The Nature Conservancy as a starting point for the stewardship of the many species and ecosystems, or elements, protected by the Conservancy. The New Jersey Office of Natural Lands Management is developing ESA's for those elements that are of particular importance as components of the biota of the state. This includes globally rare plant species that are also listed on New Jersey's official Endangered Plant Species List. The ESA serves several important functions. It helps to identify information gaps and target future research efforts. It provides a standard format for highlighting specific information about a species or community including its management needs. It also allows information to be readily communicated among various preserves, state offices, regional centers, natural heritage programs and private organizations. The ESA is a dynamic document that is continuously updated as new information becomes available. Users are encouraged to contribute their information to the abstract. This sharing of information will benefit all land managers by ensuring the availability of up-to-date information on management techniques and knowledgeable contacts. Please contact the Office of Natural Lands Management for an ESA publication list. It will contain the date of the latest revision to each ESA. Please refer to the abstract number when ordering ESA's. The abstract is a compilation of available information and is not an endorsement of particular practices or products. Element Name: POTENTILLA TRIDENTATA Ait. (Rosaceae) Element Code: PDR051B230 Preparer: Alfred E. Schuyler Common Name: Three-toothed Cinquefoil Description: Habit: perennial herb with elongate hard underground rhizomes and ascending flowering stems bearing 3-parted leaves near base and several white flowers on branches near top. Rhizome: hard and elongate. Stem: depressed branching and hard, ascending up to 0.3 m tall when bearing flowers. Leaves: compound with three leaflets, evergreen leaflets oblong up to 4 cm long, gradually narrowed at base, truncate at tip with 3 or rarely 5 teeth, smooth or hairy surfaces. Inflorescence: few to numerous flowers occurring singly at tips of inflorescence branches. Flowers: about 10 mm wide. Sepals 5, up to 3 mm long. Petals 5, white or occasionally roseate (Graustein, 1931), up to 8 mm long, rounded. Stamens numerous. Pistils few, densely hairy, with filiform styles near base. Fruits: hairy achenes, dark brown, up to 1.5 mm long. Overwintering characteristics: leaves often turn red during winter. Chromosomes: the number 2n=28 has been reported by several authors (see Kapoor et al., 1987, for summary determinations by them and others). Species most closely related to it have 2n=14 (Shimotomai, 1930). Distinctions from Related Species: readily distinguished from other species by the leathery evergreen leaflets with 3-5 toothed tips. Habitat: Potentilla tridentata has an extensive range from the District of Mackenzie to Greenland (Scoggan, 1978) and southward along exposed mountains (Anonymous, 1892; Britton, 1884; Freer, 1933; Harper, 1929; Langman, 1938; Radford et al., 1968) to Georgia. Farther west it reaches the southern limit of its range in southern Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and North Dakota (Fernald, 1950). In Maine and farther north it frequently grows in exposed rocky situations near the coast (Erskine, 1960; Fernald, 1933; Johnson and Skutch, 1928; Knowlton, 1915; Milne and Forman, 1986; Roland and Smith, 1969). Farther west, P. tridentata is a pioneer species by rock pools along the shore of Lake Superior (Butters and Abbe, 1953) where it grows with species (Scirpus cespitosus, Pinguicula vulgaris) it is associated with in coastal portions of Greenland (Schuster, 1958). In the maritime provinces of Canada, it is found on sandy soil (Roland and Smith, 1969) and in old fields (Erskine, 1960) at low elevations. In Maine, Johnson and Skutch (1928) report that P. tridentata forms a belt with Empetrum nigrum at the summit of a granite-rock promontory along the shore of Mt. Desert Island. In montane habitats in the United States, P. tridentata is reported from diverse rocky substrates (Fernald, 1907) and Wherry (1920) stated that it was an oxylophyte and grew in soils having mediacid reactions. Various species associated with it in montane habitats include Empetrum nigrum, Juncus trifidus, Minuartia glabra, M. groenlandica, Prunus pumila, and Paronychia argyrocoma. Biology/Ecology: P. tridentata has a long blooming period from late May to October (Fernald, 1950). In their work on pioneer species in the alpine tundra on Franconia Ridge, New Hampshire, Marchand and Roach (1980) reported that P. tridentata produced substantially fewer flowers than two other prominent pioneer species, Minuartia groenlandica and Juncus trifidus. They also found that seed germination of P. tridentata at disturbed sites was low and concluded that it "probably reproduces sexually only under the most favorable of conditions." They consider that its high importance at disturbed sites is related to "vegetative persistence or resistance of the underground rhizomes to disturbance" (Marchand and Roach, 1980) and colonization occurs "more often by clonal growth" (Roach and Marchand, 1984). The fungus Pucciniastrum potentillae has been reported (Farlow, 1908; Hepting, 1932) on P. tridentata and may be common wherever P. tridentata occurs (Farlow, 1908). Potentilla tridentata apparently is mycotrophic, which may enhance its capacity to be a pioneer species on rocky substrates. The fungus Endogone calospora is associated with the roots of P. tridentata (Furlan and Fortin, 1972). The capacity for P. tridentata to persist at and colonize disturbed sites probably accounts for its continued presence in New Jersey at High Point, despite its apparent disappearance during the construction of the High Point Monument (Torrey, 1929). Determination of Element Occurrence (EO) Quality: Potentilla tridentata is only known from one locality in New Jersey where it has been collected numerous times between 1883 and 1980 (NJNHP, 1989a). It may be more abundant now at this locality than it has been during the past. There are several hundred plants on rock ledges close to the monument (Snyder, pers. comm., 1990). Threats: Habitat destruction is the major threat. If rocks are removed and habitat is drastically altered, the plants may not survive. There is a remote chance that fungal diseases may be a threat. Members of the rose family often are adversely affected by various fungi. Land Protection Specifications: Tracts of land with rocky pioneer habitat conditions need to be preserved. Recovery Potential: Potentilla tridentata has high recovery potential. It is a plant that has the capacity to colonize and dominate disturbed sites (Marchand and Roach, 1980). Biological Monitoring Needs: Population size should be periodically checked. Biological Monitoring Procedures: Record changes in population size every two or three years. Biological Monitoring Programs: David Snyder of the New Jersey Natural Heritage Program is knowledgeable of the New Jersey site. Management Needs: Long term arrangement with owner should be made to protect habitat from destruction. Management Procedures: As long as habitat is protected from destruction, and rocky barren landscape is preserved, nothing else needs to be done. Summary of Stewardship Needs: Potentilla tridentata is a wide-ranging species of northern North America that extends southward in the United States in montane rocky habitats. It is a pioneer species that probably is reproducing primarily by rhizome growth. It is a prominent colonizer of disturbed sites where it has been studied in the alpine tundra of New Hampshire. Despite severe disturbance at its one New Jersey site, it has persisted and may be as abundant now as it ever was. Because of its high recovery potential, the only serious threat is drastic alteration of its habitat. Population size should be periodically monitored. If arrangements are made to protect the habitat from severe destruction, survival of P. tridentata in New Jersey should be assured. Bibliography for Potentilla tridentata ait.: Anonymous, 1892. Proceedings of the Club. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 19: 349-350. Britton, N.L. 1884. On the Existence of a Peculiar Flora on the Kittatinny Mountains of North-western New Jersey. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 11: 126-128. Butters, F.K. & E.C. Abbe. 1953. A Floristic Study of Cook County, Northeastern Minnesota. Rhodora 55: 21-55, 63-101, 116-154, 161-201. Erskine, D.S. 1960. The Plants of Prince Island. Plant Research Institute, Research Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture, Publication 1088, Queen's Printer, Ottawa. 270 pp. Farlow, W.G. 1908. Notes on Fungi, -I. Rhodora 10: 9-17. Fassett, N.C. 1932. Potentilla tridentata, f. aurora in the White Mountains. Rhodora 34: 12-13. Fernald, M.L. 1907. The Soil Preferences of Certain Alpine and Subalpine Plants. Rhodora 9: 149-193. Fernald, M.L. 1933. Recent Discoveries in the Newfoundland Flora. Rhodora 35: 1-16, 47-63, 80-107, 120-140, 161-185, 203-223, 230-247, 265-283, 298-315, 327-346, 364-386, 395-403. Fernald, M.L. 1950. Gray's Manual of Botany. 8th ed. American Book Co., New York. lxiv + 1632 pp. Freer, R.S. 1933. Notes on the Occurrence of Some Unusual Plants in the Pennsylvania Blue Ridge. Bartonia No. 15: 9-13. Furlan, V. & J-A. Fortin. 1972. Premiere mention de l`endgone Calospora au Quebec. Nat. Canad. 99(2): 127-129. Gleason, H.A. 1952. The New Britton and Brown Illustrated Flora of the Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. The New York Botanical Garden, New York. 3 v. Graustein, J.E. 1931. A Color Variation in Potentilla tridentata. Rhodora 33: 211. Harper, R.M. 1899. A New Station for Potentilla tridentata. Rhodora 1(5): 90-91. Harper, R.M. 1929. A Southern Outpost for Potentilla tridentata. Rhodora 31: 221-223. Hepting, G.H. 1932. A List of New England Rusts Collected in 1931. Rhodora 34: 60-65. Johnson, D.S. and A.F. Skutch. 1928. Littoral Vegetation on a Headland of Mt. Desert Island, Maine. III. Adlittoral or Non- Submersible Region. Ecology 9(4): 429-448. Kapoor, B.M., S. Ramcharitar, and C. Gervais. 1987. Liste Annote'e de Nombres Chromosomiques de la Flore Vasculaire du Nord-Est de L'Ame'rique. V. Nat. Canad. 114: 105-116. Knowlton, C.H. 1903. Flora of Mt. Saddleback, Franklin County, Maine. Rhodora 5(49): 35-38. Knowlton, C.H. 1915. Plants and Plant Societies at Rogue Bluffs, Maine. Rhodora 17(200): 145-155. Langman, I.K. 1938. A Third Station in Pennsylvania for Potentilla tridentata. Bartonia No. 19: 48. Marie-Victorin, Fr. 1964. Flore Laurentide. 2nd ed., entierement revue et mise a jor par Ernest Rouleau. Les Presses de l'Universite de Montreal, Montreal. 925 pp. Milne, B.T. & R.T.T. Forman. 1986. Peninsulas in Maine: Woody Plant Diversity, Distance, and Environmental Patterns. Ecology 67(4): 967-974. NJNHP. 1989a. Element Occurrence Summaries. New Jersey Natural Heritage Program, Trenton. NJNHP. 1989b. State Ranking Forms. New Jersey Natural Heritage Program, Trenton. Pease, A.S. 1914. A Form of Potentilla tridentata. Rhodora 16: 194-195. Radford, A.E., H.E. Ahles, and C.R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. lxi + 1833 pp. Roach, D.A. & P.J. Marchand. 1984. Recovery of Alpine Disturbances: Early Growth and Survival in Populations of the Native Species, Arenaria groenlandica, Juncus trifidus, and Potentilla tridentata. Arct. Alp. Res. 16(1): 37-43. Roland, A.E. and E.C. Smith. 1969. The Flora of Nova Scotia. Part II. The Dicotyledons. Proc. Nova Scotia Inst. Sci. 26(4): 277- 743. Schuster, R.M. 1958. Notes on Nearctic Hepaticae. VI. Phytogeographical Relationships of Critical Species in Minnesota and Adjacent Areas of the Great Lakes. Rhodora 60: 209-234, 243-256. Scoggan, H.J. 1978. The Flora of Canada, Part 3, Dicotyledoneae (Sauruaceae to Violaceae). Natl. Mus. Canada Pub. Bot. No. 7(3):547-1115. Seymour, F.C. 1969. The Flora of New England. The Charles E. Tuttle Co., Publishers, Rutland. xvi + 596 pp. Shimotomai, N. 1930. Chromosomenzahlen und Phylogenie bei der Gattung Potentilla. J. Sci. Hiroshima Univ., Ser. B, Div. 2, Bot. 1: 1-11. Snyder, D.B. 1990. New Jersey Natural Heritage Program, Trenton, personal communication. Torrey, R.H. 1929. Only New Jersey Stand of Sibbaldiopsis tridentata Destroyed. Torreya 29: 72-73. Wherry, E.T. 1920. Soil Tests of Ericaceae and Other Reaction-Sensitive Families in Northern Vermont and New Hampshire. Rhodora 22: 33-49.