Potentilla glandulosa

Found this diminutive yet elegant Sticky Cinquefoil growing near the dining tent in camp. There are just a couple of them about at present. Cinquefoils (cinque = five, foil = leaf) are members of the rose family and have 5-petal blooms resembling strawberry flowers. Fruits of typical cinquefoils are inedible and so some species are referred to as "barren strawberries." The genus Potentilla includes some 500 species worldwide. This species is found throughout the western U.S. The color of the blossoms varies from white to yellow to gold, though the stems always have a sticky quality--a survival mechanism designed to trap would-be predatory insects from climbing up the stems to munch on the fruiting bodies.