Images: ©Jouko Lehmuskallio
Thuringian Potentilla
Potentilla thuringiaca
- Family: Rose Family – Rosaceae
- Height: 25–30 cm (10–12 in.)
- Flower: Regular, fairly large. Sepals five, hairy. Beneath sepals an epicalyx consisting of five bracts. Petals, five, bright-yellow, notched, longer than sepals. Carpels free, at least ten. Stamens at least ten. Inflorescence a lax corymb.
- Leaves: Alternate, stipulate, palmate. Basal leaves stalked, with seven leaflets. Stem leaves with five leaflets. Leaflets narrowly elliptic, hairy, margins toothed from base to tip. Stipules slender, long-tapered.
- Fruit: A short-tipped achene.
- Habitat: Lawns, meadows, waysides, waste ground, depots.
- Flowering time: June–August.
The cinquefoils (Potentilla spp.) are usually herbs, sometimes subshrubs or small shrubs. It is a large genus of approximately 500 species. Cinquefoils occur in all continents, but are most abundant in the temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere.
Some of the species are among the most primitive in the rose family (Rosaceae), others are highly specialized. The oldest forms, existing already in the Tertiary, were possibly woody.
Some of the subshrub type cinquefoils closely resemble the strawberries (Fragaria spp.). The thuringian potentilla is an alien species in Finland, the natural distribution being eastern. It is a sturdy perennial with a branched rootstock. The stem is hairy and often reddish. Besides curled hair there are also long and straight hairs on the stem.
