Rough Cinquefoil

Rough Cinquefoil
Rough Cinquefoil. Potentilla norvegica.
Rosaceae, the rose family.

Description:
Plant: Erect, hairy, often branching plant, 1'-3' tall, with palmately compound leaves and loose clusters of small, bright yellow flowers with notched petals. Perennial
Flowers: Bright yellow, 1/4"-1/2" wide, with five notched petals, five sharply pointed sepals longer than the petals, along with five bractlets that look like sepals, and numerous stamens. Flowers form a loose [[cymose]] cluster.
Leaves: Alternate, palmately compound, usually with three lobes, leaflets distinctly toothed, [[obovate]] in outline, 1"-2" long.
Fruit: A dry capsule enclosed by the sepal remnants.
Blooming: Late June - October
Habitat: Clearings, thickets, weedy spots.

Comments: A common, native cinquefoil. The smaller, brighter-yellow flowers, and three-parted (as opposed to 5-7 parted) leaf distinguishes this plant from Rough-fruited Cinquefoil, (P. recta), another common, erect cinquefoil with clustered blooms, which is an invasive introduction from Europe. This species also blooms later than Rough-fruited cinquefoil, continuing until killed by a hard freeze.

Where to find it: In the weedy thickets along the entrance road and some other woodland boundary areas in the park.