Silver cinquefoil (Potentilla argentea)
Common Names: Silvery cinquefoilDescription: First specimen in Michigan was discovered in 1866 in Lenawee County but by the late 1880s it was already well established across the state.
Habit:
Leaves: Palmate, groups of 5-7 leaflets. Leaflets are stalked, deeply toothed, down-turned margins, appears silver below with dense white hairs.
Stems: Prostrate with ascending tips, branched, covered in white pubescence.
Flowers: 1/4 to 1/3 inch wide, 5 petals, yellow in color, alternating with 5 sharply pointed hairy sepals, ring of yellow stamen surround center, clusters at the end of branching stems. Not all bloom at the same time. Bloom from June to September.
Habitat: Native to Eurasia. Can be found in roadsides, trails, barnyards, lawns, railroads, fields, gravel pits, and disturbed sites.
Reproduction: By seed.
Similar species: The leaves of this species are very distinct but can be confused with other members of the rose family with similar flowers.
Credits: The information provided in this factsheet was gathered from Minnesota Wildflowers, University of Michigan Herbarium, and UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery & Urban Forestry Program.
Individual species images that appear with a number in a black box are courtesy of the Bugwood.org network (http://www.invasive.org).Individual photo author credits may not be included due to the small display size of the images and subsequent difficulty of reading the provided text. All other images appear courtesy of Google (http://images.google.com).