Cinquefoil (12)
Cinquefoil, the Potentilla genus, is large and can be found in a variety of habitats and life zones. All have five, mostly yellow petals, most have an orange spot at the base of the petal, so are very similar. The leaves differentiate. Some species hybridize making identification difficult. Here are a few. See also Cream Cinquefoil.
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Silverweed Cinquefoil Family:
Rose (Rosaceae) Low growing with creeping, red runners. Leaves have many pairs of toothed leaflets that are silvery underneath. Flowers are about ¾" across with five, sometimes more, petals. They grow on a single stalk from a node in the runner which has taken root. It can look as if the flowers sprouted out of the ground all by themselves if you don’t notice the runner and the leaves several inches away. Flora of North America reference. |
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Elegant Cinquefoil Family:
Rose (Rosaceae) Grows only a few inches high. It has dark green, toothed leaves with long, cottony hairs underneath. They are divided finger-like into leaflets which have notched tips and edges curved upwards. Flowers bloom early, often before the leaves are fully formed. Flora of North America reference. |
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Varileaf Cinquefoil Family:
Rose (Rosaceae) Grows to 20". Leaves are divided into bluish-green, finger-like, toothed leaflets. Flora of North America reference. |
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Leafy Cinquefoil Family:
Rose (Rosaceae) Grows up to 12" with leafy, sticky stems. Flowers grow in clusters and look like buttercups. Flora of North America reference. |
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Shrubby Cinquefoil Family:
Rose (Rosaceae) A many-branched shrub growing to 3 feet with shredding bark. The leaves are grayish-green and five-lobed but are smaller and thicker than the herbaceous cinquefoils. Blooms from June to August. Flora of North America reference. |
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Slender Cinquefoil Family:
Rose (Rosaceae) Grows to 28" high, mostly erect. The leaves are divided, finger-like into 5 to 7 toothed leaflets with hairy, but not silvery, undersides. Flowers are ½" across. Compare to P. pulcherrima.
Flora of North America reference. |
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Woolly Cinquefoil Family:
Rose (Rosaceae) Grows to 20" with leaves that are divided into 3 to 6 pairs of shallow toothed leaflets. The top of the leaves are green or silvery, the bottom, densely silvery, hairy. Flowers are ½" across with notched petals separated by pointed, hairy, green sepals.
Flora of North America reference. |
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Norwegian Cinquefoil Family:
Rose (Rosaceae) Grows to 2 feet high. Growth is erect with branching in the upper part and mostly stem leaves. Stems are hairy. Leaves are divided into three leaflets and are coarsely toothed. The flowers are about ½" across with hairy sepals longer than the petals. Flora of North America reference. |
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Paradox Cinquefoil Family:
Rose (Rosaceae) Growth is sprawling or erect with many branches and flowers. The leaves are divided into pairs of leaflets and are coarsely toothed. The flowers are less than ½" across and have leafy bracts. Flora of North America reference. |
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Prairie Cinquefoil Family:
Rose (Rosaceae)
Flora of North America reference. |
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Beautiful Cinquefoil Family:
Rose (Rosaceae) Grows to 2 feet usually leaning. The leaves are dark green on top with silvery hairs on the underside, and are divided into sharply toothed leaflets. The edges of the leaflets often curve upwards. The leaves of the similar P. gracilis have less dense silvery hairs underneath. Flowers are ¾" across.
Flora of North America reference. |
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Brook Cinquefoil Family:
Rose (Rosaceae) Leafy stems grow to 2 feet long. Flora of North America reference. |
Grows to 2 feet high. Leaves are
mostly basal, divided into 3 to 5 pairs of leaflets, deeply cleft,
hairy, greenish on top, grayish
underneath and velvety to touch. Flowers are clustered at the top of the
stem with hairy sepals.
Leaves and stems
are smooth or have soft hairs. Lower leaves have 5 to 7 leaflets, upper
leaves have 3, all are coarsely toothed. The numerous flowers are about ¼" across with
pointed bractlets and sepals longer than the tiny pale yellow petals. Shown here growing in masses on the exposed bed of
Blue Mesa Reservoir.