_Potentilla canadensis_
_Flowers_--Yellow, 1/4 to 1/2 in. across, growing singly on long
peduncles from the leaf axils. Five petals longer than the 5 acute calyx
lobes with 5 linear bracts between them; about 20 stamens; pistils
numerous, forming a head. _Stem:_ Spreading over ground by slender
runners or ascending. _Leaves:_ 5-fingered, the digitate, saw-edged
leaflets (rarely 3 or 4) spreading from a common point, petioled; some
in a tuft at base.
_Preferred Habitat_--Dry fields, roadsides, hills, banks.
_Flowering Season_--April-August.
_Distribution_--Quebec to Georgia, and westward beyond the Mississippi.
Every one crossing dry fields in the eastern United States and Canada at
least must have trod on a carpet of cinquefoil (_cinque_ = five,
_feuilles_ = leaves), and have noticed the bright little blossoms among
the pretty foliage, possibly mistaking the plant for its cousin, the
trefoliate barren strawberry. Both have flowers like miniature wild
yellow roses. During the Middle Ages, when misdirected zeal credited
almost any plant with healing virtues for every ill that flesh is heir
to, the cinquefoils were considered most potent remedies, hence their
generic name.