Comarum palustre

Marsh Cinquefoil ( Potentilla palustris)

The Marsh Cinquefoil ( Potentilla palustris) is a species of the genus of herbs fingers ( Potentilla ) in the rose family ( Rosaceae ). It has a circumpolar distribution and settled flat and intermediate Moore.

Description

The Marsh Cinquefoil is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches the plant height of 20 to 70 centimeters. Your creeping, woody rhizome, from which branch off the flowering and non-flowering shoot axes can be 1 meter long. The prostrate to ascending stems are fluffy and shaggy hairy, leafy and branched above. The leaves are divided into petiole and leaf blade. The stem leaves are five to seven parts pinnate, the leaflets are almost like fingers arranged sägezähnig and bluish green, sometimes reddish run.

The inflorescence is called a loose trugdoldig. The hermaphrodite, radial symmetry flowers are usually fünfzählig, rarely siebenzählig. The green, narrow lanceolate outer sepals are half as long as the broad - lanceolate, acuminate sepals. The five upper side dark - reddish-brown, along sloping sepals are twice as long as the petals, they increase in size to fruit maturity. The five purple petals are 3-8 mm long and narrow. The 20 stamens are black and purple. The flowering period is from June to July (August).

The many fruits are smooth and shiny. To fruit maturity of the cup is thickened and the outer cup remains.

Ecology

The Marsh Cinquefoil is a herbaceous Chamaephyt or Hemikryptophyt with up to 1 m long rhizome.

The flowers are vormännliche " nectar leading disk flowers ". The red-brown on the inside, strongly recurved at bloom chalice surmounted the inconspicuous, blood-red petals and acts as a shop organ. From a disc-shaped honey nectar gland between stamens and fruit ground is excreted, the flies, bees and bumble bees for pollination attracts.

The time for fruit strawberry similarly bloated, but not fleshy and usually not separating out from the blossom floral axis bears many nutlets 1.5 mm long, which may be produced individually. The nutlets are bare with hakig curved tip, which allows a Velcro spread by waterfowl. Since the fruit walls have a soft floating fabric, it also comes to the swimming pool spread with a duration of up to 12 months. Fruit ripening takes place from August to October.

Vegetative propagation is caused by either stem or rhizome that can easily take root in moist soil.

Occurrence

The Marsh Cinquefoil is used in Europe, Siberia, Iceland, Greenland and North America.

It occurs scattered, from the lowlands to the mountains and settled mostly low-and intermediate Moore and generally wet, temporarily flooded, moderately acidic peat and mud floors. With open mud preference points are covered, where the species has with her long " rootstock " enough room to spread. Also in quaking she appears on the scene and gradually forms a fluctuating carpet on the water surface of marshy waters. The Marsh Cinquefoil is because of its specialization in the highly endangered habitat type Moor in many regions on the Red List.

Use

The rhizome contains a lot of tannin and a red dye. This was formerly used for diarrhea and used for tanning and red coloring.

System

This species was first published in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus as Comarum palustre. The currently accepted name Potentilla palustris (L.) Scop. was published in 1771 by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli.