Plant · GBIF taxon 5368059
Common Cinquefoil
Potentilla simplexAlso known as Old-Field Five-Fingers, Oldfield Cinquefoil
Common cinquefoil spreads across fields and open woodlands using long, arching runners that root at the nodes to form dense ground cover. Its bright yellow five-petaled flowers bloom throughout spring, closely resembling wild strawberry blossoms in shape but distinguished by their vivid color and palmately compound five-parted leaves. This native perennial plays an important ecological role as an early-season nectar source for native bees and small butterflies.
PerennialWildflowerYellow Bloom
—observations
—countries
—peak records
Least ConcernConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXLeast ConcernRed List categories, explained →
Diet & prey
- Autotrophic
Predators
- White-Tailed Deer
- Cottontail Rabbits
- Herbivorous Caterpillars
ThreatsInvasive species crowding, habitat conversion
HabitatsFields, open woods, meadows, roadsides
Life spanPerennial
Classification
- OrderRosales
- FamilyRosaceae
- GenusPotentilla
- SpeciesPotentilla simplex
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskLow
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Safe to observe at a normal distance.
Responsible observation
- Identification: Count the leaf leaflets, as this plant almost always displays five distinct leaflets per leaf.
- Observation Timing: Look for bright yellow flowers blooming actively from mid-spring into early summer.
Ecological Neighbor (c) psweet, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by psweet · cc-by-sa
Invasive Competitor (c) Bryan Connolly, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Bryan Connolly · cc-by
Close Relative (c) Evan M. Raskin, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Evan M. Raskin · cc-by
Image unavailableClose Relative
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