Cinquefoils
What are they?
This is a group of plants in the rose family (Rosaceae) and they can typically be recognised by their bright yellow, five-petalled flowers (often with a notch at the tip of the petal) and their palmately three- or five-parted leaves. They are otherwise quite a varied bunch, with most being low, creeping or trailing plants, but others are more upright and one is a woody shrub. There are also white-flowered members of this group that are similar to the closely-related strawberries and which can be seen by clicking here.
Where are they found?
These are mostly plants of open, grassy places in meadows, heaths and on roadside verges. Some species originate from garden escapes and are therefore more likley to appear in urban environments or close to roads.
Identification
Other than the number of petals, most species are rather similar in their flowers, so differences have to be looked for elsewhere. The shape and number of the leaflets on the leaves is important as well as the growtuh style (upright or trailing etc.). In some species, the length of the petals relative to the sepals is useful to note, as well as the appearance of the fruits or seedheads.
Silverweed Argentina anserina
(Potentilla anserina) Native. Common and widespread in all but the driest of grassy places, including the upper edges of saltmarshes and in wetlands. Flowers June to August. A low, creeping species that spreads vegetatively to form large patches. Leaves sometimes green but most often silvery due to a dense covering of white hairs. Differs from all other species on this page in its pinnate not palmately-lobed leaves.
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Common Tormentil Potentilla erecta
Native. Widespread but locally confined to acid heaths and grasslands. Flowers June to September. A low growing plant with straggling stems which reach upward when growing in taller vegetation to form low mounds. Differs from most other species on this page by having only four petals to its flowers. Leaves with narrow leaflets that are glossy, deep green.
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Trailing Tormentil Potentilla anglica
Native. Rare in East Anglia and confined to acid heaths and grasslands. Flowers June to September. Rather like a cross between Tormentil and Creeping Cinquefoil in having trailing stems but flowers with four petals. Basal leaves with five, broad, leaflets, stem leaves with three leaflets and with petioles (leaf stalks) that get progressively shorter towards the tip of the stem. Hybrids between this species and other cinquefoils exist and can look very similar. The hybrids are sterile so the presence of seedheads later in the season can help to identify this species.
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Creeping Cinquefoil Potentilla reptans
Native. Widespread and common in all kinds of grassy places. Flowers June to September. A creeping plant with long, trailing branches that root into the ground at the leaf nodes. Leaves all with five leaflets.
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Yellow-flowered Strawberry Potentilla indica
Introduced from Asia as a garden ornamental and persistent where it spreads into the wider countryside from gardens. Flowers May to June. A creeping plant with long stems that root at the leaf nodes. to form extensive colonies. Flowers differ from those of the other cinquefoils by having large and broad epicalyx lobes. The epicalyx consists of an extra row of sepals which are placed between the true sepals and the flower stalk. Fruits swell to appear like strawberries but they are insipid and have little or no flavour. When in fruit, the persistent epicalyx lobes readily identify it from true strawberries (as do the yellow flowers).
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Hoary Cinquefoil Potentilla argentea
Native. Widespread but confined to short turf habitats on dry, sandy soils on heaths and in Breckland. Flowers June to July. Basal stems creeping and densely hairy, but flowering stems are more upright. Best recognised by the silver-white undersides to its rather angular leaves.
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Ternate-leaved Cinquefoil Potentilla norvegica
Introduced from mainland Europe but rare, with only a handful of records from our region. Flowers June to September. An annual or short-lived perennial which has small flowers with the petals clearly shorter than the sepals and epicalyx lobes. All leaves have only three leaflets. Not a showy plant and probably came to the UK as an impurity of seed mixes rather than as a garden ornamental.
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Russian Cinquefoil Potentilla intermedia
Introduced from eastern Europe but rare, with only a handful of records from our region and only persistent at Ramparts Field in Suffolk Breckland. Flowers June to September. An annual or short-lived, upright perennial which has small flowers with the petals clearly shorter than the sepals and epicalyx lobes. Intermediate between Ternate-leaved and Sulphur Cinquefoils with relatively small flowers (petals just shorter than sepals) and leaves with five leaflets.
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Sulphur Cinquefoil Potentilla recta
Introduced from mainland Europe and scattered across the region in dry, grassy places, mostly in East Suffolk and West Norfolk. Flowers June to July. A showy, upright species with relatively large, primrose-yellow flowers and strikingly fingered leaves. Note that there is also a deeper yellow form ('Warrenii') that is popular as a garden plant and might also occasionally occur in the wider countryside.
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Shrubby Cinquefoil Dasiphora fruticosa
A rare native of northern England (though widespread in northern temperate regions of the world) and only occurs in East Anglia as an occasional garden escape or where surviving from original plantings. Flowers June to July. Differs from all other species on this page in being a thickly branched, deciduous shrub growing to a metre in height. Native plants in the UK have golden-yellow flowers but garden forms may also have pale yellow, orange or white flowers.
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