Potentilla nivea

{{Short description|Species of plant in the genus Potentilla}}

{{Speciesbox

|image=Fingerkraut 'Potentilla nivea' 5806.JPG

|image_caption=Flower

|image2=Potentilla nivea Atlas Alpenflora.jpg

|image2_caption=(from Atlas der Alpenflora)

|genus=Potentilla

|species=nivea

|authority=L.

|synonyms_ref=

|synonyms={{Collapsible list|

• Fragaria nivea (L.) Crantz
• Potentilla concinna var. dissecta (S.Watson) B.Boivin
• Potentilla dryophylla Pall. ex Ledeb.
• Potentilla fragariifolia Less. ex Ledeb.
• Potentilla jamesoniana Grev.
• Potentilla jezoensis Soják
• Potentilla macrantha Ledeb.
• Potentilla matsuokana Makino
• Potentilla nivea var. alpina Turcz.
• Potentilla nivea var. arctica Cham. & Schltdl.
• Potentilla nivea subsp. chionodes Hiitonen
• Potentilla nivea var. dissecta S.Watson
• Potentilla nivea subsp. fallax A.E.Porsild
• Potentilla nivea var. incisa Turcz.
• Potentilla nivea var. insularis Peschkova
• Potentilla nivea var. major Turcz.
• Potentilla nivea var. niveiformis Jurtzev
• Potentilla nivea var. pentaphylla Turcz.
• Potentilla nivea var. petiolulata Popov
• Potentilla nivea var. quinquefolia Rydb.
• Potentilla nivea var. tomentosa Nilsson-Ehle ex Hultén
• Potentilla nivea f. unifoliolosa (Hultén) B.Boivin
• Potentilla quinquefolia (Rydb.) Rydb.
• Potentilla saximontana var. dissecta (S.Watson) Soják
• Potentilla uniflora subsp. arctica (Cham. & Schltdl.) Hiitonen
• Potentilla villosa var. unifoliolosa Hultén

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Potentilla nivea, called the snow cinquefoil, snowy cinquefoil, and villous cinquefoil, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Potentilla, native to Subarctic Asia, North America, Greenland, and Europe, and the Subalpine Rockies and Alps.{{cite web |url=https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PONI2 |title=Potentilla nivea |author= |date=1 January 2007 |website=wildflower.org |publisher=Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center |access-date=8 January 2021 }} It comes in many ploidy levels; 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 6x, 7x, 8x and 10x.{{cite journal |title=Molecular data and ploidal levels indicate several putative allopolyploidization events in the genus Potentilla (Rosaceae) |year=2011 |last1=Töpel |first1=Mats |last2=Lundberg |first2=Magnus |last3=Eriksson |first3=Torsten |last4=Eriksen |first4=Bente |journal=PLOS Currents |volume=3 |pages=RRN1237 |doi=10.1371/currents.RRN1237 |doi-broken-date=3 May 2025 |pmid=21603100 |pmc=3097082 |doi-access=free }}

It fwas first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753,{{Cite web |title=Potentilla nivea L. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30011942-2 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}}{{citation|author=Linnaeus, C.|date=1753|title=Species Plantarum|volume= 1|pages=499|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/26068462}} who described it as living in the alps (habitat in alpibus).