Sibbaldiopsis tridentata (Aiton) Rydb.

Three-toothed cinquefoil, shrubby fivefingers

Three-toothed cinquefoil is a diminutive evergreen plant with a fondness for mountainsides—all the photos here, at least when I wrote this article, were found on mountains. It is a North American native.

Plants: Plants form low, evergeen mats, 1–8″ (2.5–20 cm) tall. Lower stems are woody and gray, while upper stems are light green to red in color.

Leaves: Leaves are alternate and elliptic. Each leaf is com­prised of three leaflets arranged in a palmate (palm-like) cluster. Each leaflet is up to 1½ ⨉ ½″ (3.8 ⨉ 1.3 cm), with three teeth at the end. It is glossy dark green on top, and light green beneath. Lower leaves are attached via stems, while upper leaves may be directly attached. In sunny areas, leaves turn deep red in the fall.

Flowers: White, ¼–½″ (8.4–12 mm) around, with 5 petals and 5 pale green sepals between. Flowers often appear in dense clusters. Petals are oval or egg-shaped, and often wrinkly. An exhuberant spray of stamens almost as long as the petals explodes from the center. Flowers appear from June to August.

Fruits: The sepals at the base of each flower dry up, folding around the developing tiny seeds.

Habitats: Acid soils and alpine and subalpine habitats: cliffs, ledges, grasses, meadows and fields..

Online References:

Older scientific or horticultural names

Sibbaldiopsis tridentata description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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