# Creeping cinquefoil

*Potentilla reptans*

The name 'cinquefoil' translates from Old French as 'five leaves', referring to the characteristic five leaflets that make up its palmately compound leaves.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Rosales › Rosaceae › Potentilla
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** grassland
- **Habitat:** Grasslands, meadows, lawns, roadsides, and forest edges.
- **Diet:** Autotrophic (photosynthesis)
- **Range:** Europe, North Africa, Western Asia, North America (introduced)
- **Size:** 10-15 cm height; creeping stolons can reach up to 1 meter in length
- **Lifespan:** Perennial (individual plants can live for several years, cloning indefinitely via runners)
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Intensive agricultural cultivation and heavy herbicide use in urban landscaping.
- **Safe to approach?:** Creeping cinquefoil is completely harmless to humans and animals. It can be safely touched and observed from any distance. If foraging, ensure the area has not been treated with chemical pesticides or herbicides.

## About

Potentilla reptans , known as the creeping cinquefoil , European cinquefoil or creeping tormentil , is a plant in the Rosaceae family.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/c126cdf6-8353-4a7c-86d7-3d00410165de
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/167373
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentilla reptans
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/437682315/medium.jpg (Benjamin Zwittnig, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.