Potentilla sterilis

Strawberry cinquefoil ( Potentilla sterilis ) ( herbarium )

The strawberry cinquefoil ( Potentilla sterilis ) is a Rose family ( Rosaceae ). It blooms very early March to May

Appearance

The rhizome of the perennial plant is covered with the brown remains of the old petioles. It drives foothills. The basal leaves are stalked about 5-10 cm long and have a 3-part, gray - green leaf blade. The middle leaflet is nearly sessile or short-stalked, broadly obovate, 1-4 cm long and both sides with 4-8 teeth. The central tooth is much smaller and the lateral leaflets are strongly asymmetric shape. The flower stem is decumbent to ascending, 5-15 cm long, spreading hairy as the petioles and has only 1-2 stem leaves and 1-3 long-stalked flowers. The petals are white, upside - heart-shaped, 5-6 mm long, and do not touch. They are hardly longer than the pointed sepals, which tend after bloom above the fruit heads together.

Distribution and habitat requirements

Potentilla sterilis growing on moderately dry to fresh, often decalcified something, sandy to loamy soils. The plant is mainly found in mixed oak forests, pine and spruce forests, thickets, in shock corridors and fringe communities on forest edges and in lean meadows.

The species occurs in temperate western and central Europe remains widespread. From northern Spain in the west to East Germany, with very scattered individual deposits in Poland and Belarus. In the north, missing with the exception of southern Sweden in Scandinavia. In the south, in the Pyrenees, south of the Alps of Northern Italy, Northern Yugoslavia, Hungary, with individual deposits to Macedonia. The species belongs to the sub-Atlantic Florenelement.

The Strawberry Cinquefoil is widespread in the central and south-western Germany and most often. In the north, east and south, it is only scattered to rarely occurring. For the most part there are not enough even completely.

Others

The Strawberry Cinquefoil is pollinated by insects. The often already in May ripe fruits are spread by ants ( Myrmechorie ). From the similar woodland strawberry ( Fragaria vesca ), it differs in very many other features, for example, by the petals, do not touch, as well as the acting leaves much rounded. It also carries no red glow fruit.