Rosaceae: Potentilla arguta

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Family Name

Rosaceae

Common Name

Tall cinquefoil

Description

Potentilla arguta is a perennial herbaceous plant growing 30 to 90 cm tall from a fibrous root system. Stems are erect, slender, and often smooth or slightly hairy. The medium green leaves are compound, usually with five to seven leaflets arranged palmately. Leaflets are ovate to lanceolate, 2 to 6 cm long and 1 to 3 cm wide, with finely serrated margins and pointed tips. The texture is generally smooth to slightly hairy. Flowers are 1.5 to 3 cm wide and bloom June through August. Each flower has a calyx of five lanceolate sepals, 5 to 8 mm long and 2 to 3 mm wide, often with fine hairs on the edges and pointed tips that curve slightly outward; five bright yellow, broadly ovate to rounded petals, 8 to 15 mm long and 6 to 12 mm wide, with slightly notched tips. Numerous stamens surround the pistils; each stamen is slender, 4 to 6 mm long, with bright yellow anthers. The pistils are clustered centrally, each about 3 to 5 mm long, with slender styles topped by small, rounded stigmas. After fertilization, the pistils develop into a dense cluster of small achenes, each 2 to 3 mm long. Tall cinquefoil commonly grows in open woods, prairies, and along stream banks, favoring well-drained soils and sunny to partly shaded locations, mainly in the eastern and central parts of in South Dakota.

Synonym: Drymocallis arguta

Additional Notes

Tall cinquefoil is valued for its role in native plant gardens and for providing early-season nectar for pollinators.

Horticulture Notes

Seed Collection: Collect mature achenes in late summer.

Germination: Seeds require 60–120 days of cold-moist stratification or fall sowing to break dormancy. Plant in well-drained soil.

Vegetative Propagation: Can be propagated by division.

Soils: Prefers well-drained soils, sandy to loamy.

Light: Full sun to partial shade.

Water: Prefers moderate moisture but tolerates some drought.