[114] Dasiphora fruticosa, Shrubby Cinquefoil

[114] Dasiphora fruticosa, Shrubby Cinquefoil

Introduction

Dasiphora fruticosa, Shrubby Cinquefoil, is a very common garden plant with yellow flowers, often planted as a hedge.

Its other names include Bush Cinquefoil, Shrubby Five-finger and Tundra Rose. As a cultivated garden plant, it is widely still known as Potentilla fruticosa.

Potentilla is a large genus with at least 300 members, almost all of which are called cinquefoils, as are many other plants including Dasiphora.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)

Order – Rosales

Family – Rosaceae

Subfamily – Rosoideae

Tribe – Potentilleae

Subtribe – Potentillinae

Genus – Dasiphora

Scientific Name -Dasiphora fruticosa

There are several varieties and about a hundred cultivars, mostly with white or yellow flowers.

Name

The word cinquefoil applies to most species of Potentilla and other genera that used to be included within Potentilla. From French roots meaning five-leaf, it refers to the five petals of the flower. It is still used more generally to mean any flower with five petals.

The derivation of Potentilla is uncertain but it may come from a corruption of Tormentil (Potentilla erecta) meaning a little torment. The Latin epithet fruticosa means bushy or shrubby.

Description

The genus Potentilla is closely related to strawberries. Several of its hundreds of species have been moved out into other genera including Dasiphora. [037] Silverweed, Argentina anserina used to be Potentilla anserina. It is now also sometimes called Dasiphora argentina.

Dasiphora fruticosa is very suited to use as a hedge. It grows to a height of about a metre to a metre and a half and has a spreading, prostrate form. It is densely leafy with small pinnate leaves and the leaves and stems are covered with fine hairs.

Most cinquefoils, still Potentilla species, are more sprawling plants like strawberries and Silverweed.

The flowers are bright yellow, similar to [295] Buttercups, and they appear in large numbers as shown above.

Habitat and use

The Shrubby Cinquefoil is widely cultivated in its many varieties, generally as a colourful hedge.

Other Notes

This is a very familiar shrub. I used to have one many years ago when it was a Potentilla. It is common locally, sometimes in a white flowered variety.

[037] Argentina anserina, Silverweed

[037] Argentina anserina, Silverweed

Introduction

Argentina anserina, Silverweed, widespread throughout the Northern hemisphere is a low, ground-covering perennial plant with attractive leaves, silvery looking on one side. It is, of course, known formally as Common Silverweed, also known as silver cinquefoil. (There are three other silverweeds in Anserina.)

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)

Order – Rosales

Family – Rosaceae

Genus – Agentina

Scientific Name – Argentina anserina

It was originally known as Potentilla anserina and its removal from Potentilla is controversial.

Name

The genus Argentina (and the country) gets its name from the Spanish for silver.

As you will remember from [026] Greylag, anser is Latin for goose. Its name in Swedish is gåsört (goose-wort) perhaps because it was used to feed geese, or because the leaves were reminiscent of a goose’s feet. [Remember, of course, that Linnaeus was Swedish.]

Description

It is very closely related to Potentilla, often called cinquefoils, and is similar in appearance. It is a low-growing, creeping plant with saw-toothed leaves.

The leaves are covered in tiny hairs, especially on the underside. These hairs give it a silvery look.

I had not noticed its flowers but if you zoom into the last picture you can see two yellow flowers hiding behind the leaves. They have five petals like typical cinquefoils. (That is, of course, what ‘cinque-foil’ means.)

Habitat and use

Silverweed is native to most of the Northern Hemisphere and can spread rapidly. Its roots can be used as a food crop, similar to parsnips.

Its ability to spread can make it a garden weed.