''Potentilla erecta'' (syn. ''Tormentilla erecta'', ''Potentilla laeta'', ''Potentilla tormentilla'', known as the (common) tormentil, septfoil or erect cinquefoil ) is a herbaceous

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

belonging to the rose family (

Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. Among the most species-rich genera are ''Alchemilla'' (270), ''Sorbus ...

Description

''Potentilla erecta'' is a low, clump-forming plant with slender, procumbent to arcuately upright stalks, growing tall and with non-rooting runners. It grows wild predominantly in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and western Asia

mostly on acid soils and in a wide variety of habitats such as mountains, heaths, meadows, sandy soils and dunes. This plant flowers from May to August/September. There is one yellow, wide flower, growing at the tip of a long stalk. There are almost always four notched

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s, each between 3 and 6 mm long. Four petals are rather uncommon in the rose family. The petals are somewhat longer than the

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s. There are 20–25

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s. The radical

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

have a long petiole, whilst the leaves on the flowering stalks are usually sessile or with short petioles. The glossy leaves are alternate, ternate, consisting of three obovate leaflets with serrated margins. The paired

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

s are leaflike and palmately lobed. There are 2–8 dry, inedible fruits. Potentilla erecta (root)

Distribution

Europe

''Potentilla erecta'' is found wild throughout Europe, Scandinavia and West Asia. ''Potentilla erecta'' is almost ubiquitous in the British Isles, recorded in almost all 10 km squares except close to

the Wash The Wash is a rectangular bay and multiple estuary at the north-west corner of East Anglia on the East coast of England, where Norfolk, England, Norfolk meets Lincolnshire and both border the North Sea. One of Britain's broadest estuaries, it i ...

br>
and is listed as a species of least concern. It is very common in grasslands, heaths, moors and mountains, bogs including roadsides and pastures, mostly on acidic soils but avoiding chalk. It is a component of

British National Vegetation Classification __NOTOC__ The British National Vegetation Classification or NVC is a system of classifying natural habitat types in Great Britain according to the vegetation they contain. A large scientific meeting of ecologists, botanists, and other related pr ...

community M25 (''Molinia caerulea''–''Potentilla erecta'' mire).

North America

In North America ''Potentilla erecta'' is found in the east as an introduced species.

Uses

The rhizomatous

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

is thick. It has little value for food use because of its bitterness and low caloric value. The roots are a main ingredient of a bitter liqueur from

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and the Black Forest area, called

Blutwurz Blutwurz is a liqueur made from the root of the common tormentil plant ('' Potentilla erecta''), which derives its German name (blood root) from the color of the juice that emerges when the root is cut. The root provided a traditional anti-inflamm ...

. It is also used in Ukraine along with honey in

horilka Horilka ( uk, горілка, be, гарэлка, ro, horincă) is a Ukrainian alcoholic beverage. The word ''horilka'' may also be used in a generic sense in the Ukrainian language to mean vodka or other strong spirits and etymologically is ...

. The plant is used in herbal medicine as an

astringent An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin ''adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Calamine lotion, witch hazel, and yerba mansa, a Californian plant ...

because of its

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'', ...

content, which is unusually high for a

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

plant. Structurally-related

phlobaphene Phlobaphenes (or phlobaphens, CAS No.:71663-19-9) are reddish, alcohol-soluble and water-insoluble phenolic substances. They can be extracted from plants, or be the result from treatment of tannin extracts with mineral acids (tanner's red). The nam ...

s, used as a red dye for leather known as ''tormentil red'', can be extracted from the root of the common tormentil along with the triterpene alcohol tormentiol. Aqueous extracts of the rhizomes are reported to have low toxicity in rats and mice.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q160098

erecta This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages to understand and remember the scientific names of organisms. The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants i ...

Flora of Europe Flora of temperate Asia Plant dyes Medicinal plants of Asia Medicinal plants of Europe Plants described in 1843 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus