Cinquefoil - types and varieties of plants, characteristics
Content:
The cinquefoil herb is a beautiful flowering plant that is not only used in landscape design, but also known for its medicinal properties. Potentilla inflorescences have found application in cooking and medicine, both folk and traditional.
Botanical characteristics
Cinquefoil is one-year, two-year or perennial. She is from the Pink family. Grows in the northern hemisphere in temperate climates. The species has more than 500 varieties.
The cinquefoil plant is represented by bushes, shrubs, annual grasses. The stem is erect or creeping. On the creeping stem, there are nodes that quickly take root in the soil.
The leaf, depending on the variety, can be pinnate, finger-like or trifoliate. Stipules are present. Flowers are arranged singly or in clusters. They are all saucer shaped. The petals are obovate or round. Their colors are snow-white, yellow, pink, orange or red.
Fruits in the form of nuts, their number varies from 10 to 80 pcs. Fruit color is dark olive.
White bloodroot
Scientific name Alba, growing area - Caucasus, Europe, Russia. The plant lives for 5 years or more. Height is 8-25 cm. Stems are straight, there is practically no foliage on them. Stem or root leaves. The flowers are large, up to 2.5 cm. The inflorescences are located singly. Flowering occurs from May to August. The species is resistant to frost.
There is only one variety in this group. White cinquefoil is a rather rare variety, known for its healing effects on humans.
Shrub cinquefoil
Deciduous shrub 60-120 cm high. The bark of the stem is brown with a red tint. Leaves up to 2.5 cm long, their shape is pinnate, complex. Flowers with a diameter of 2 to 4 cm. The color is pale cream or yellow. Abundant flowering occurs in July-October.
Description of the main types of shrub Potentilla:
- Potentilla Tangerine. The height of the bush is 75 cm, the color of the petals is orange with copper shades;
- Hoplits Orange. Plant height 50 cm, orange color;
- Potentilla Goldstar. The bush grows up to 70 cm, the petals are yellow;
- Potentilla Primrose Beauty (Beauty Lovely Pink), she is also shrub Potentilla Lovely Pink. Her flowers are pink, the height of the bush is 50 cm;
- cinquefoil Marion Red Robin grows up to 50 cm, the color of the petals is deep red;
- Potentilla Pink Queen Paradise. Reaches 60-80 cm in height, pink flowers;
- Potentilla Mango Mango or Mango Tango (Fruticosa). Plant height 60 cm, flowers are yellow, the middle of a brighter shade;
- Deydowne cinquefoil is pale pink, up to 80 cm high;
- Belissimo. The height of the bush is 30 cm, the color is deep pink.
All varieties are represented in the plantarium.
Goose cinquefoil
Potentilla Anserina, native to North America. The height of the bush is 5-20 cm. The stem is creeping, due to which the plant can grow up to 2 m in height.The stem is covered with green bark, which, under the sun's rays, acquires a red tint over time.
Inflorescences are yellow with a diameter of 1-2.5 cm. The plant is unpretentious, blooms profusely in the period May-August.
The goose species of the plant is the only variety.
Erect cinquefoil
Grows in the Caucasus, Europe and Asia Minor. Its height is 10-50 cm. The crown is dense and dense. The leaves are wedge-shaped, finger-like or trifoliate up to 3 cm long. The diameter of the flowers is 1 cm. Dissolving, it pleases with bright shades of yellow, turning into a light shade at the edge of the petals. Flowering occurs in May-September.
Silver cinquefoil
Growth area - Asia Minor, Europe, Siberia. The height of the shrub is from 10 to 50 cm. The leaves are compound, palmate, their color is silvery. The petals are yellow with an admixture of gray. Bloom from May to July.
It is the only variety in this form.
Nepalese cinquefoil
It grows in the Himalayas and the Alps. Its height is up to 60 cm. Flowers up to 2.5 cm in diameter. Inflorescences are red or crimson.
The best varieties:
- Miss Wilmont - large, deep pink flowers. Planting is carried out in early spring, the first shoots appear in 2 weeks. The variety is resistant to low temperatures;
- Floral Carpet. The shade of the petals is coral, saturated in the middle. Abundant flowering occurs from June to September. The variety should be planted on the sunny side;
- Floris. The petals are pink, each flower has a spot of bright pink at the base.
Use in landscape design
Kuril cinquefoil is used in landscape design in various variations:
- hedge. It is recommended to use long-leaved bushes for her, which form a dense and dense crown. Given the low height, cinquefoil is used to frame the borders in order to divide the garden plot into several zones;
- design of an alpine slide. In combination with decorative stones and conifers, it is recommended to choose forked cinquefoil or strawberry. The branchy, recumbent or Indian cinquefoil looks beautiful among the stones;
- flower garden. When combining cinquefoil with other flowers, it should be placed in the center of the composition;
- framing ponds. The bushes look very nice near the water. By planting a bush in close proximity to water bodies, you can significantly reduce the frequency of its watering. Flowers will delight with abundant flowering and rich colors due to the sufficient amount of moisture in the soil.
Cinquefoil golden-flowered or deep pink can be planted as an independent single bush. To make the plant a highlight of the garden, it is recommended to surround it with a lawn or decorative stone, small pebbles.
Useful properties and application in medicine
Cinquefoil is not only an ornamental shrub that will decorate the garden, but also very useful. Due to its healing effects, it is used to treat various diseases. The therapeutic effect on the body is achieved due to the presence of a number of vitamins, macro- and microelements in the plant.
The plant is especially valuable for the following diseases:
- pathology of the thyroid gland - hyperplasia, goiter, adenoma;
- colitis, enterocolitis;
- dysentery;
- liver;
- heart and vascular system;
- rheumatism;
- gout;
- hypertension.
The beneficial effect on the human body is multifaceted:
- improving the tone and elasticity of the walls of blood vessels;
- acceleration of metabolism, which helps to get rid of excess weight;
- reducing the concentration of harmful cholesterol;
- strengthening the immune system;
- restoration of the natural intestinal microflora;
- protection against the negative effects of free radicals;
- increased potency;
- improving the biochemical composition of the blood;
- healing of ulcers;
- normalization of blood pressure.
For treatment, decoctions and infusions from the roots are used. The optimal time for harvesting raw materials is September and October or early spring, when the first leaves begin to appear. After digging up the roots, you need to cut off the damaged or rotten parts. The roots are washed under running water and then dried in the sun.
Cinquefoil is used in pharmacology for the manufacture of dietary supplements. These are drugs endocrinol and endonorm.
Cinquefoil is a great addition to any landscape design. It has many varieties, each of which is varied in its colors. Pleases with a long and abundant flowering, which lasts from late spring to the last days of autumn. It is used not only as a decoration of the site, but also as a remedy for the treatment of many diseases.