Potentilla [ Sunset Western Garden Book. 1995. 606–07.] is a genus containing over 500 species of Annual plant, Biennial plant and Perennial plant herbaceous plant flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae.
Potentillas may also be called cinquefoils in English, but they have also been called five fingers and silverweeds. Some species are called tormentils, though this is often used specifically for Common Tormentil ( P. erecta). Others are referred to as barren strawberries, which may also refer to P. sterilis in particular, or to the closely related Waldsteinia fragarioides. Several other cinquefoils formerly included here are now separated in distinct genera – notably the popular garden shrub P. fruticosa, now Dasiphora fruticosa.
Potentillas are generally found throughout the northern continents of the world (holarctic), though some occur in montane of the New Guinea Highlands.
Description
Typical cinquefoils look most similar to
strawberry, but differ in usually having dry, inedible fruit (hence the name "barren strawberry" for some species). Many cinquefoil species have
Leaf shape. Some species have just three leaflets, while others have fifteen or more leaflets arranged pinnately. The flowers are usually yellow, but may be white, pinkish or red. The
are usually dry but may be fleshy and strawberry-like, while the actual seeds – each one technically a single fruit – are tiny nuts.
Taxonomy
Among the
Rosaceae, cinquefoils are close relatives of
geum (genus
Geum) and
(
Rosa), and even closer relatives of
agrimonia (
Agrimonia). Yet more closely related to
Potentilla are
alchemilla (
Alchemilla) and
fragaria (
Fragaria).
Dryas is a more distantly related genus, long-held beliefs notwithstanding.
Analysis of internal transcribed spacer DNA sequence data has yielded valuable information on cinquefoil relationships, supporting previous hypotheses as to their descent, but also resulting in a number of changes to the circumscription of Potentilla.[Eriksson, T., et al. (2003). The phylogeny of Rosoideae (Rosaceae) based on sequences of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA and the TRNL/F region of chloroplast DNA. International Journal of Plant Sciences 164(2) 197–211. ]
The horkelias, mousetails, and mock-strawberries formerly classified in the genera Horkelia, Ivesia, and Duchesnea are now all included in the genus Potentilla. Conversely, the plants previously included in this genus are now separated in the genus Dasiphora, while some distinctive and apparently protocarnivorous[Spoomer, G. G. (1999). Evidence of protocarnivorous capabilities in Geranium viscosissimum and Potentilla arguta and other sticky plants. International Journal of Plant Sciences 160(1) 98–101. ] herbaceous cinquefoils are placed in Drymocallis. The Comarum palustre is now in the genus Comarum, and the Sibbaldiopsis makes up the monotypic taxon Sibbaldiopsis. As already proposed by John Hill in the 18th century, the silverweeds of genus Argentina may be distinct, but as the immediate sister genus of Potentilla, its boundary is still unclear.
Subdivision
Estimates of the number of valid species in this large genus depend on the circumscription used, and over 500 species are currently recognised by Plants of the World Online.
See the list of Potentilla species.
Formerly included in Potentilla
Etymology
"Cinquefoil" in the
Middle English Dictionary is described as "Pentafilon – from Greek
Pentaphyllon – influenced by foil, a leaf. The European cinquefoil (
Potentilla reptans), often used medicinally."
The word is derived from Old French
cinc, Middle English
cink and ultimately Latin
quinque – all meaning "five" –, and
feuille and
foil/foille which mean "leaf". Formerly this term referred to five-leaved plants in general. In
Middle Ages times, the word "cinquefoil" was used almost exclusively in England. In France, the genus was called
quintefeuille, first attested in Normandy and Brittany in the 11th-century.
The scientific name Potentilla seems to have been influenced by a fusion of ancient names for these plants. Common tormentil, P. erecta, was known as tormentilla in medieval Latin, derived from early Spanish – literally "a little torment", meaning pain that, while not debilitating, is unpleasant and persistent (such as a stomach ache, against which P. erecta was used). The change from initial "t" to "p" seems to have been influenced by terms such as poterium – Latin for the related Sanguisorba (genus Sanguisorba) – or propedila and similar words used for the European cinquefoil ( P. reptans) in the now-extinct Dacian language, as attested in Latin .
In another medieval dictionary the French word potentille is defined as a "wild Tansie, a silver weed",
Distribution and habitat
Cinquefoils grow wild in most cool and cold regions of the world. Most species are herbaceous perennials but a few are erect or creeping
. Some are troublesome
. Other types are grown in gardens.
Ecology
Cinquefoils are a prominent part of many
. In the United Kingdom alone, common tormentil (
P. erecta) together with
molinia caerulea (
Molinia caerulea) defines many grassy
, and grows abundantly in the typical deciduous forest with
betula pubescens (
Betula pubescens), common wood sorrel (
Oxalis acetosella), and
quercus petraea (
Quercus petraea). In upland pastures on
calcareous soil it typically accompanies common bent (
Agrostis capillaris),
festuca ovina (
Festuca ovina), and
thymus praecox (
Thymus praecox). It is most commonly seen in regions dominated by
calluna (
Calluna vulgaris), including common lowland heaths with
erica cinerea (
Erica cinerea), maritime heaths with
scilla verna (
Scilla verna), submontane heaths dominated by red peat moss (
Sphagnum capillifolium) and common bilberry (
Vaccinium myrtillus), and the mountain heathlands of Scotland with alpine juniper (
Juniperus communis ssp.
alpina).
The leaves of cinquefoils are eaten by the of many Lepidoptera, notably the grizzled skippers (genus Pyrgus), butterflies of the skipper family. Adult butterflies and moths visit cinquefoil flowers; for example, the endangered Karner Blue ( Plebejus melissa samuelis) takes nectar from common cinquefoil ( P. simplex). The Polish cochineal ( Porphyrophora polonica), a scale insect once used to produce red dye, lives on cinquefoils and other plants in Eurasia. Some, but not all, cinquefoils are entomophily, producing nectar that lures , hoverfly, muscidae, butterflies, hemiptera, and .[Guillén, A., et al. (2005). Reproductive biology of the Iberian species of Potentilla L. (Rosaceae). Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid 1(62) 9–21.]
Fossil record
One
fossil fruitlet of †
Potentilla pliocenica has been described from a
middle Miocene stratum of the Fasterholt area near
Silkeborg in Central
Jutland,
Denmark.
[Angiosperm Fruits and Seeds from the Middle Miocene of Jutland (Denmark) by Else Marie Friis, The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters 24:3, 1985] Four
fossil fruits of †
Potentilla pliocenica have been extracted from bore hole samples of the
Middle Miocene fresh water deposits in
Nowy Sacz Basin,
West Carpathians,
Poland.
[Łańcucka-Środoniowa M.: Macroscopic plant remains from the freshwater Miocene of the Nowy Sącz Basin (West Carpathians, Poland) Szczątki. Acta Palaeobotanica 1979 20 (1): 3-117.]
Uses
Horticulture
Some cinquefoils are grown as
. These are generally high species with bright, showy flowers, such as
Potentilla aurea (
P. aurea), ruby cinquefoil (
P. atrosanguinea), Nepal cinquefoil (
P. nepalensis), and
Potentilla recta (
P. recta).
horticulture hybrids such as Hopwood's cinquefoil (
Potentilla ×
hopwoodiana) and tongue cinquefoil (
Potentilla ×
tonguei) have been bred, and there exists a range of
. Some
double-flowered cinquefoils have been bred, starting with
Victor Lemoine's 'Gloire de Nancy' in 1854. Other taxa and varieties are useful for more specialized gardening purposes, such as
or
. Among the former is the hardy spring cinquefoil (
P. neumanniana), the
floral emblem of
Cromartyshire.
Health
Some species are used in
herbalism.
Common Tormentil (
P. erecta), for example, has been used as an herbal remedy for
inflammation and gastrointestinal disorders.
[Shushunov, S., et al. (2009). Determination of acute toxicity of the aqueous extract of Potentilla erecta (tormentil) rhizomes in rats and mice. Journal of Medicinal Food 12(5), 1173–1176.] Research continues to determine its safety and usefulness as an alternative medicine for such disorders as ulcerative colitis.
[Huber, R., et al. (2007). Tormentil for active ulcerative colitis: an open-label, dose-escalating study. Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology 41(9), 834–838.] Potentilla discolor[Yang, J., et al. (2010). Anti-diabetic effect of standardized extract of Potentilla discolor Bunge and identification of its active components. Drug Development Research 71(2), 127–132.] and
P. multifida[Xue, P., et al. (2007). Simultaneous determination of seven flavonoids in Potentilla multifida by HPLC. Journal of Chromatographic Science 45(4), 216–219.] are Chinese medicinal herbs used to treat
diabetes.
Cultural references
In
heraldry, the cinquefoil emblem or
potentilla signified strength, power, honor, and loyalty. Depiction of the five-
flower appears as early as 1033, in the architecture of the church built in the village of
Reulle-Vergy in Burgundy, France, two years before the reign of William the Conqueror. The cinquefoil emblem was used generously in the architecture of numerous churches built in Normandy and Brittany through the 15th century.
From the 11th to 14th century, the word potence, related to potentilla, was used mainly in a military context and to describe the condition of the soul.
At the time of William the Conqueror, the potentilla was used as the device of Bardolph of Brittany, who was the master of William's military engineer corps.
