Potentilla canadensis L.
Canadian dwarf cinquefoil, dwarf cinquefoil
Canadian dwarf cinquefoil is a North American native. “Cinquefoil” means five-leaved. These low plants remind me of wild strawberries, except that the flowers are yellow.
Plants: 2–6″ (5–15 cm) high, with hairy silvery reddish stems, and runners up to 1½′ (50 cm) long.
Leaves: palmate, that is, split into five palmlike leaflets, each leaflet up to 1½″ (3.8 cm) long. The top half of each leaflet is toothed.
Flowers: Yellow, with five petals, ¼–½″ (6.3–12 mm) in diameter, appearing from May to the middle of June.
Fruits: Achenes lack hair tufts.
Habitats: Dry open fields, pastures, thin woods and shaded edges.
Online References:
5/31/2016 · J. Harry Rich State Forest, Pepperell, Massachusetts 
5/21/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 5″ (14 × 13 cm) 
5/7/2010 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 5″ (15 × 13 cm) 
5/21/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 7″ (20 × 18 cm) 
5/22/2021 · Eaton Farm Preserve, Wiscasset, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 4″ (11 × 10 cm) 
6/17/2025 · Devil’s Back, Orr’s Island, Maine · ≈ 14 × 10″ (36 × 24 cm) 
6/20/2021 · Maquoit Bay Preserve, Brunswick, Maine · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (16 × 11 cm) 
5/21/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 12 × 8″ (31 × 20 cm) 
5/31/2016 · J. Harry Rich State Forest, Pepperell, Massachusetts 
5/12/2007 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts 
ID is uncertain 
5/17/2021 · Bijhouwer Forest, Phippsburg, Maine · ≈ 2½ × 2″ (6.8 × 5.7 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Rosidae | Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more |
| Order | Rosales | Rose family and eight others |
| Family | Rosaceae | Includes apples, apricots, plums, cherries, peaches, pears, raspberries, strawberries, almonds, roses, meadowsweets, photinias, firethorns, rowans, and hawthorns; many others |
| Genus | Potentilla | Latin for “powerful,” for the medicinal qualities of some species |
| Species | canadensis | “From Canada” |
Potentilla canadensis description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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