Pentaphylloides floribunda (Shrubby Cinquefoil, Potentilla)
Rosaceae (Rose Family)

Foothills, montane, subalpine. Meadows. Summer.

This plant was first called Potentilla fruticosa by Linnaeus in 1753.  Henri Duhamel named the Pentaphylloides genus in 1755, Frederick Pursh renamed the plant Potentilla floribunda in 1814, Rydberg named it Dasiphora floribunda in 1898,   O. Schwartz named it Pentaphylloides fruticosa in 1949, A. Love named it Pentaphylloides floribunda in 1954, and John Kartesz recently renamed it to Rydberg's Dasiphora floribunda.

Weber's two most recent editions of Colorado Flora call the plant "Pentaphylloides floribunda", but Weber notes in these books that this name "has been found to be illegitimate". He also notes that "the next available name, Dasiphora Rydberg is also illegitimate."  But the Plants Data Base and John Kartesz accept Rydberg's Dasiphora. ("Dasiphora" is Greek for "hair bearing" and perhaps refers to the hairy bark and hairy seeds of this plant.)