About Potentilla simplex Michx.
Potentilla simplex Michx., commonly called common cinquefoil, old-field five-fingers, or oldfield cinquefoil, is a perennial herb in the Rosaceae (rose) family. It is native to eastern North America, ranging from Ontario, Quebec, and Labrador in the north southward to Texas, Alabama, and the Florida panhandle. This familiar plant has prostrate stems that root at their nodes, yellow flowers, and 5-parted palmately pinnate leaves that grow from stolons (runners) on separate stalks. Its complete flowers each have 5 yellow petals around 4–10 mm long, and bloom from March to June. The plant produces seed from April to July. It grows most commonly in woodlands, fields, and disturbed areas. Along with Potentilla canadensis, P. simplex acts as an indicator of impoverished soil, and is also a host species for the cinquefoil bud gall wasp Diastrophus potentillae. Documented pollinators of P. simplex include mason bees, small carpenter bees, cuckoo bees, halictid bees, syrphid flies, tachinid flies, blow flies, and other species. Wasps and butterflies visit the plant as pollinators less commonly. Rabbits and groundhogs feed on its foliage. The young shoots and leaves of P. simplex are edible, and can be used in salads or as a pot herb.
