Potentilla simplex

Potentilla simplex, also known as common cinquefoil or old-field five-fingers or oldfield cinquefoil, is a perennial herb in the Rosaceae (rose) family native to eastern North America from Ontario, Quebec, and Labrador south to Texas, Alabama, and panhandle Florida.[1][2]

Potentilla simplex

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Potentilla
Species:
P. simplex
Binomial name
Potentilla simplex

Potentilla simplex is a familiar plant with prostrate stems that root at nodes, with yellow flowers and 5-parted palmately pinnate leaves arising from stolons (runners) on separate stalks. Complete flowers bearing 5 yellow petals (about 4-10 mm long) bloom from March to June. It bears seed from April to July. It is commonly found in woodlands, fields, and disturbed areas.[2][3] Along with Potentilla canadensis, the plant is an indicator of impoverished soil[4] as well as the host species for the cinquefoil bud gall wasp Diastrophus potentillae.[5]

Pollinators include mason bees, small carpenter bees, cuckoo bees, halictid bees, syrphid flies, tachinid flies, blow flies, and others. Less common pollinators are wasps and butterflies. Rabbits and groundhogs eat the foliage.[6]

Young shoots and leaves are edible as a salad or pot herb.[7]

References
  1. Weakley, Alan S. (May 2015). Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Chapel Hill, NC, USA: The University of North Carolina Herbarium. pp. 585–587.
  2. "Plants Profile for Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)". USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Retrieved 28 Mar 2016.
  3. "Common Cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex)". Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Retrieved 28 Mar 2016.
  4. Niering, William A.; Olmstead, Nancy C. (1985) [1979]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region. Knopf. p. 753. ISBN 0-394-50432-1.
  5. "Diastrophus potentillae". Gallformers. gallformers.org. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  6. "Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)". John Hilty. Retrieved 28 Mar 2016.
  7. "Cinquefoil Herb Use". Alternative Nature Herbals. Retrieved 28 Mar 2016.
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