I have a Potentilla in my garden which I collected in B.C. when I was in my teens, and grew in my rock garden for a few years till I left home; when I moved back, there was no sign of the plant (or most others of course, with a couple decades of neglect--it was mostly weeds, grass and native plants grown in), but after I redug parts of the garden, it reappeared presumably from seed..
I'd been trying to figure out what it was, unsuccessfully, and finally did, today--only to realise its P recta (one reason I did not consider this is that Royer/Dickinson show a bright yellow flower, and mine is much more of a creamy yellow)-- a problem invasive in B.C.! Its Alberta status is a little unclear to me--certainly I have never seen pale flowered plants like mine, though they may exist elsewhere in the province, if it can have strong yellow flowers then it would be harder to separate from native species....
Anyway, my dilemma is-- should I dispose of the several plants I have? Or keep it, watchfully... the fact that it died out except for in ground seed when the rock garden became overgrown suggests that it may not be able to compete with the local vegetation.... I was thinking it was biennial (recta is supposed to be perennial), will have to watch more closely, but I have not found any other species with the pale yellow flowers.... If someone can name it as something other than recta that would be cool too ;D
