Sieversia

Willdenow

Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin Mag. Neuesten Entdeck. Gesammten Naturk. 5: 397. 1811.

Etymology: For Johann August Carl Sievers, 1762–1795, German-born apothecary who explored eastern Russia in search of medicinal rhubarb
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 9. Treatment on page 57. Mentioned on page 58, 59.
 TaxonIllustrator 
FNA9 P5 Rubus repens.jpegRubus repens
Sieversia pentapetala
Geum triflorum var. triflorum
Marjorie C. Leggitt
Marjorie C. Leggitt
Marjorie C. Leggitt

Subshrubs (dwarf), subscapose, 0.2–0.8 [–1.5] dm; rhizomatous, rhizomes branching, slender, woody; fibrous-rooted. Stems 1–5+, decumbent to ascending, simple, glabrous. Leaves deciduous, cauline (often crowded near stem apices), pinnately compound; stipules adnate to petiole base, linear, margins entire; petiole present; blade elliptic to obovate, 1–3.5 cm, herbaceous, leaflets 3–11, narrowly elliptic to obovate or rhombic, margins flat, entire or sharply lobed or toothed apically, venation pinnate, surfaces glabrous. Inflorescences terminal, flowers solitary; bracts 1 or 2. Pedicels present. Flowers 15–25 mm diam.; epicalyx bractlets 5; hypanthium saucer-shaped, 2 mm, puberulent; sepals 5, spreading, ovate; petals 5, white, some yellow at base or fading yellowish, obovate to elliptic; stamens 100–120, shorter than petals; torus hemispheric, short-hairy; carpels 30–70, hairy, styles not geniculate-jointed; ovule 1. Fruits aggregated achenes, 30–70, ovoid to fusiform, tapered apically, 2 mm, hairy; hypanthium persistent; sepals persistent, spreading to reflexed; styles persistent, elongating to 20 [–27] mm, not hooked, pilose except distal 1 mm. x = 7.

Distribution

Alaska, e Asia

Discussion

Species 1 or 2 (1 in the flora).

Sieversia is circumscribed here in its original narrow sense and follows the treatment by J. E. E. Smedmark (2006). Late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century authors often included within Sieversia all members of Colurieae with fruits bearing relatively long, slender, plumose styles that lack a geniculate joint. Smedmark and her colleagues have shown that this fruit type is probably ancestral in Colurieae and have argued for placement of all North American species, except for S. pentapetala, in Geum (see discussion under 4. Geum). The Asian endemic S. pusilla Hultén differs from S. pentapetala largely in its greater degree of blade division (the leaflets are deeply divided resulting in nearly bipinnate blades) and may or may not be a distinct species.

Selected References

None.

"thin" is not a number."elongating" is not a number."dm" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.

... more about "Sieversia"
Joseph R. Rohrer +
Willdenow +
compound +  and simple +
opposite +  and alternate +
elliptic +  and obovate +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br />) +
coriaceous +
free +  and distinct +
Alaska +  and e Asia +
not +  and aggregated +
For Johann August Carl Sievers, 1762–1795, German-born apothecary who explored eastern Russia in search of medicinal rhubarb +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
unisexual +  and bisexual +
not +  and aggregated +
tapered +, ovoid +  and fusiform +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (?) +
saucer--shaped +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (?) +
crassinucellate +
simple +  and compound +
opposite +  and alternate +
deciduous +
narrowly elliptic +  and obovate or rhombic +
pinnate +  and entire +
toothed +, lobed +, entire +  and flat +
inferior +  and superior +
clustered +, biseriate +  and superposed +
0 (?) +  and 4 (?) +
fading yellowish +, yellow +  and white +
free +  and distinct +
obovate;elliptic +
adnate +, free +, connate +  and distinct +
Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin Mag. Neuesten Entdeck. Gesammten Naturk. +
fibrous-rooted +  and branching +
not arillate +
persistent +
free +  and distinct +
spreading +  and reflexed +
free +  and distinct +
decumbent +  and ascending +
1 +  and 5 +
palmate +  and pinnate +
not geniculate-jointed +
persistent +
distinct +
basal +, lateral +, subterminal +  and terminal +
not hooked +
Sieversia +
Rosaceae tribe Colurieae +
inconspicuous +
short-hairy +
hemispheric +
enlarged +
rhizomatous +  and subscapose +