Creeping Cinquefoil
Encyclopedia
Potentilla reptans, known as the creeping cinquefoil, European cinquefoil or creeping tormentil, is a plant in the Rosaceae
Rosaceae
Rosaceae are a medium-sized family of flowering plants, including about 2830 species in 95 genera. The name is derived from the type genus Rosa. Among the largest genera are Alchemilla , Sorbus , Crataegus , Cotoneaster , and Rubus...

 family.

It is a creeping perennial plant
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

 native to the UK and introduced to the U.S. Its trailing stems root at the nodes. Leaves are borne on long stalks. It blooms in June - August with yellow flowers (about 2 cm in diameter) that have 5 heart-shaped petal
Petal
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They often are brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals lying...

s. It is quite common. Could be easily confused with silverweed
Silverweed
Argentina anserina, also known as Common Silverweed, Silverweed Cinquefoil or just "silverweed", is a flowering perennial plant in the rose family Rosaceae. It is native throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere, often on river shores and in grassy habitats such as meadows and road-sides...

. The butterfly known as the Grizzled Skipper
Grizzled Skipper
The Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus malvae is a butterfly of the Hesperiidae family.-Appearance, behaviour and distribution:With its characteristic chequered black and white pattern this butterfly is quite distinctive although old, faded individuals can be mistaken for the Dingy Skipper or the Sideridis...

 is known to favour this plant which is often found growing in crushed masonry in the South of England.

Each shoot section has to bracts (α and β) and terminates with a flower (I). Bract α subtends a short assimilation shoot (II, leaves a+b), which may root (r). Bract β subtends the next runner (II). From (Warming 1884)]]
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK