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Trees- ShrubsSulphur Cinquefoil (Potentilla recta)
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Potentilla recta is often confused with the Graceful Cinquefoil (P. gracilis) which is shorter and has white woolly hair on the under surface of its leaves. P. recta has a well developed root-stock (1). Stems are tufted, erect, and very leafy, with both coarse and fine hairs. Its leaves are arranged basally and are palmately compound containing five or seven toothed leaflets. The leaves are green and have coarse hair on both sides. The stem leaves are similar to the basal leaves but are shorter-stalked, several, and more obviously alternate. Its flowers are light yellow with five petals arranged in open, terminal clusters (1).
It is a perennial herb and flowers between May and August (2).
It prefers coarse textured soil on dry to moderately moist sites; dense populations have also been found on clay soils. It can be found on fields, open ground, waste land, meadows, pastures, disturbed sites, overgrazed grasslands and roadsides (2).
It is native to the eastern Mediterranean region of Eurasia (1). It can also be found in central and southern Europe, along with the mountains of North Africa and Asia (2). It has been introduced to other countries where it is seen as an invasive weed.
As a pioneer species, the Sulphur Cinquefoil may bind disturbed soil and prevent erosion. It is not a threat until it completely dominates an area (1).
Description by Lilli Lehtinen (2009)
(1) Alaska Natural Heritage Program (2005) Sulphur Cinquefoil, Potentilla recta L., Anchorage, Alaska
(2) British Columbia (2009) Field Guide to Noxious and Other Selected Weeds of British Columbia, Sulphur Cinquefoil (Potentilla recta) [online] Available:
http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/weedguid/cinquefo.htm [date accessed: 05/05/2009]
