15 cm ruler for scale

Low plant with a woody base, decumbent stems, many branched. Leaves divided into 3 leaflets, each leflet cleft into 2-3 lobes. Foliage is greyish, hairy both sides with star-shaped hairs, woolly on bottom. I measured a leaflet with petiole to be 4 cm long. Flowers open with a scarlet colour, and fade to pale orange, consist of 5 petals, and grow to 25 mm in diameter.

Very common on prairie throughout southern Saskatchewan.

Height listed in Budd's Flora varying from 5 to 20 cm. The tallest flowering stem I measured on above plants was 20 cm.

Photos taken June 9th, hilltop of the Qu' Appelle River Valley, 40 km north of Regina, and June 19th, dry prairie, Buffalo Grass Eco Reserve, 200 km southeast of our home in Regina, SK.