FIVE-FINGER; COMMON CINQUEFOIL
(Potentilla Canadensis) Rose family
Flowers - Yellow, 1/4 to 1/2 in. across, growing singly on long
peduncles from the leaf axils. Five petals longer than the 5
acute calyx lobes with 5 linear bracts between them; about 20
stamens; pistils numerous, forming a head. Stem: Spreading over
ground by slender runners or ascending. Leaves: 5-fingered, the
digitate, saw-edged leaflets (rarely 3 or 4) spreading from a
common point, petioled; some in a tuft at base.
Preferred Habitat - Dry fields, roadsides, hills, banks.
Flowering Season - April-August.
Distribution - Quebec to Georgia, and westward beyond the
Mississippi.
Everyone crossing dry fields in the eastern United States and
Canada at least must have trod on a carpet of cinquefoil (cinque
= five, feuilles = leaves), and have noticed the bright little
blossoms among the pretty foliage, possibly mistaking the plant
for its cousin, the trefoliate barren strawberry (q.v.). Both
have flowers like miniature wild yellow roses.
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