Creeping cinquefoli
Scientific name: Potentilla reptans L.
Family: Rosaceae
MORPHOLOGY
Habit and dimensions: Perennial herbaceous plant with a taproot, reaching a height of 10-30 cm. The entire plant is more or less hairy.
Stem: Creeping stems, stoloniferous and rooting at the nodes, reddish stolons, up to 1 meter long.
Leaves: Basal leaves are long-stalked and deeply pinnate, divided into 5 or rarely 7 oblong-ovate lobes, green on both sides, either glabrous or pubescent, with coarsely toothed margins with 6-7 teeth per side. Leaf stipules, leaf-like and adnate to the petiole, are present at the base of the leaves. Cauline leaves are similar to basal leaves but smaller and subsessile.
Flowers: The flowers are solitary, hermaphroditic, actinomorphic, pentamerous, axillary to the basal leaves, on erect peduncles, measuring 1-2 cm in diameter, golden yellow. The persistent green calyx is formed by 5 hairy, triangular-ovate sepals with obtuse apices. The corolla consists of 5 petals longer than the calyx, obcordate with an emarginate apex. Blooms from April to September.
Fruits and seeds: The fruits consist of aggregated, hairy achenes.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
Present throughout Italy in fallow lands, poor and humid meadows, among ruins and rubble, near ponds or ditches, along paths and roadsides; from sea level up to 1,600 m.
USE
It has astringent, febrifuge, and weakly antispasmodic properties. In folk medicine, it is mainly used for diarrhea, nosebleeds, gum inflammations, and for baths in the case of wounds that are difficult to heal. In the past, the entire plant was reputed to be an antidote for venomous animal bites, and its juice was attributed properties useful in the treatment of lung diseases. Before taking any plant-based product (medicinal or otherwise) for therapeutic or similar purposes, it is always advisable to consult a doctor. Young leaves can be used sparingly in salads, in soup preparation, or cooked like spinach.
INTERESTING FACTS
The cosmetic industry uses this plant in the production of anti-wrinkle creams.
Photo: under free license from Saxifraga and Peter Meininger, Marijke Verhagen, Rutger Barendse, Willem van Kruijsbergen
