Potentilla gracilis
Potentilla gracilis, known as slender cinquefoil or graceful cinquefoil, is a species of cinquefoil.
Named varieties are:
- Potentilla gracilis var. elmeri Jeps. - combleaf cinquefoil
- Potentilla gracilis var. flabelliformis Nutt.
This perennial herb is variable in morphology, growing erect stems up to a meter tall from a branching caudex and rhizome unit. The leaves are palmate and compound, each divided into five to seven wide lance-shaped leaflets with toothed edges. The leaflets are hairy, with many more hairs on the undersides, making them lighter in color than the top surfaces. The basal leaves are borne on very long petioles. Leaves higher on the stem are smaller and reduced. The inflorescence is a cyme of several flowers, each with usually five yellow petals.
It is a larval host to the two-banded checkered skipper.