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.