Scientific name: Potentilla palustris (L.) Scop.
Common name: Marsh Cinquefoil
Description
Habit: Perennial, to 50 cm high.
Stems: Erect or semi-erect, with woody rhizome; tinged reddish-purple.
Leaves: Alternate, stalked, with leafy stipules, pinnate with 5 oblong and toothed leaflets; leaflets 3-5 cm long, white on underside.
Flowers: Reddish-purple, actinomorphic, hermaphrodite, 2-3 cm across, solitary or in terminal cymes; calyx of 5 sepals, fused, calyx-tube short; petals 5, free; stamens numerous; carpels numerous, ovary superior; with hypanthium flat- or saucer-shaped.
Fruits: A head of achenes on a non-swollen convex receptacle.
Habitat: Marshes, reed-swamps, fens, ditches, bogs, lake-shores.Distribution: Frequent over much of the region, but rather local.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No