Tormentil (Potentilla erecta) grows widely in Great Britain, preferring light
acid soil.
It grows up to 20 inches high, the upper leaves having three
leaflets and two leafy stipules.
The flowering stems grow from a rosette of leaves that often
wither before the flowers appear, which is between May and October.
The yellow flowers, which look a bit like those of
buttercups, have four sepals and four petals. They produce a nectar that
attracts insects, but the plant can also self-pollinate.
Each flower produces up to twenty fruits in a small solid
receptacle.
Tormentil was used medicinally in past
ages. In a book published in 1616 a powder made from tormentil roots was
recommended as a cure for toothache.
The plant was also used as a source of red dye and its
highly astringent roots could serve as alternative to oak bark in the tanning
of hides.
© John Welford
Silverweed (Potentilla anserine) is a variety of cinquefoil that has the more usual
yellow flowers, and its silvery leaves are divided into up to 12 leaflets.
It was an important crop plant in earlier times before the
introduction of potatoes. The starchy roots were eaten raw, baked or boiled, or
ground down to make porridge or bread.
Traditional names for silverweed include “bread and butter”,
“bread and cheese” and “seventh bread”.
It also had medicinal uses, being used to treat mouth
ulcers, sore throats and internal bleeding.
© John Welford
Marsh cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris), as the name
suggests, grows in wet places such as bogs and peat. It is more common in
northern areas of the British Isles than further south. In the Isle of Man it
has the name “bog strawberry”.
Cinquefoil is French for “five-leaved”, although this refers
to the arrangement of leaflets within a single leaf.
Marsh cinquefoil grows to between 6 and 18 inches high. A
creeping underground stem produces upright stems on which grow the largish
leaves, divided into five leaflets as mentioned above.
The plant flowers from May to July, the flowers being
reddish in colour, which is unusual for cinquefoils in that most varieties have
yellow flowers. The flower sepals are much longer than the petals. The fruits
are carried in a spongy receptacle.
©John Welford
