Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Pyrenean cinquefoil

(Potentilla alchimilloides alchimilloides)

galery
en

Description

Potentilla sericea is a rose plant species described by Carl von Linné. Potentilla sericea is part of the Finger herb genus which is part of the rose plant family. In addition to the nominate form, there is also the subspecies P. s. Polyschista. Potentilla is a genus containing over 300 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae. Potentillas may also be called cinquefoils in English, but they have also been called five fingers and silverweeds. Some species are called tormentils, though this is often used specifically for common tormentil (P. erecta). Others are referred to as barren strawberries, which may also refer to P. sterilis in particular, or to the closely related Waldsteinia fragarioides. Several other cinquefoils formerly included here are now separated in distinct genera - notably the popular garden shrub P. fruticosa, now Dasiphora fruticosa. Potentillas are generally found throughout the northern continents of the world (holarctic), though some occur in montane biomes of the New Guinea Highlands. Typical cinquefoils look most similar to strawberries, but differ in usually having dry, inedible fruit (hence the name "barren strawberry" for some species). Many cinquefoil species have palmate leaves. Some species have just three leaflets, while others have 15 or more leaflets arranged pinnately. The flowers are usually yellow, but may be white, pinkish or red. The accessory fruits are usually dry but may be fleshy and strawberry-like, while the actual seeds – each one technically a single fruit – are tiny nuts. Among the Rosaceae, cinquefoils are close relatives of avens (genus Geum) and roses (Rosa), and even closer relatives of agrimonies (Agrimonia). Yet more closely related to Potentilla are lady's mantles (Alchemilla) and strawberries (Fragaria). Dryas is a more distantly related genus, long-held beliefs notwithstanding.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum:
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Rosales
Family:Rosaceae
Genus:Potentilla
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