Ontario Weeds: Sulphur cinquefoil
Table of Contents
- Name
- Other Names
- Family
- General Description
- Stems and Roots
- Leaves
- Flowers and Fruit
- Habitat
- Similar Species
- For more information...
Name: Sulphur cinquefoil, Potentilla
recta L.,
Other Names: Five-finger cinquefoil,
Rough-fruited cinquefoil, Upright cinquefoil, Yellow cinquefoil,
potentille dressée, potentille droite
Family: Rose Family (Rosaceae)
General Description: It is distinguished
by its 5 to 7 leaflets palmately arranged at the end of a leafstalk
like fingers from the palm of a hand, but sometimes with only 3
leaflets per leaf or the leaves not divided on the smaller flowering
branches; the leaves always green on both surfaces, and the large,
deep yellow to sulfur-yellow flowers with petals longer than sepals.
It is similar to Rough cinquefoil in general habit and appearance
but distinguished by being perennial from a coarse, fibrous root
system.
Sulphur cinquefoil (A - plant; B - flowers and
leaves).

Sulphur cinquefoil. A. Plant. B. Seedling with 2 true leaves. C. Seedling with 4th leaf trifoliolate.
Stems & Roots: Usually multiple-stemmed,
the stems often taller (20 - 80 cm, 8 - 32 in. high);
Leaves: Green on both sides, palmately
compound with usually 5 to 7 narrow, coarsely toothed, hairy leaflets
at the tip of the leafstalk (petiole) (like fingers from the palm
of the hand) and a pair of stipules at the base of each leafstalk;
first 2 or 3 true leaves on seedling not divided.
Flowers & Fruit: Flowers large,
2-2.5cm (4/5-1in.) across; petals deep yellow to sulfur-yellow,
longer than the green sepals; seeds prominently wrinkly-ridged.
Flowers from early June until fall.
Habitat: Rough cinquefoil occurs throughout
Ontario in pastures, meadows, waste areas, roadsides, and occasionally
in gardens and cultivated fields.
Similar Species: Sulphur cinquefoil is
sometimes mistaken for Marijuana (chanvre, Hemp, Cannabis, Cannabis
sativa L.) because of its palmately compound leaves, but Marijuana
is a much taller plant up to 1.2-3m (4-10ft.) tall, with much larger
palmately compound leaves, each having 5-11leaflets, the leaflets
long and slender (up to 15cm, 6in., long or even longer, and 1.5cm,
3/5in., wide) with coarse teeth, the leaf petioles without stipules,
and the stems and leaves somewhat rough with very short, stiff,
incurved hairs but lacking the prominent hairiness of the cinquefoils.
... on weed identification, order OMAFRA
Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA
Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control
...on weeds in field crops, contact Mike Cowbrough (mike.cowbrough@ontario..ca),
Weed Management Specialist (Field Crops), OMAFRA
...on weeds in horticultural crops, contact Kristen Callow (kristen.callow@ontario.ca),
Weed Management Specialist (Hort Crops), OMAFRA
For more information:
Toll Free: 1-877-424-1300
E-mail: ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca