potentilla

/ ˌpəʊtənˈtɪlə /

noun

1. any rosaceous plant or shrub of the N temperate genus Potentilla, having five-petalled flowers See also cinquefoil silverweed tormentil

Word History and Origins

Origin of potentilla¹

C16: New Latin, from Medieval Latin: garden valerian, from Latin potēns powerful, potent ¹

Example Sentences

For Potentilla, or cinquefoil, it’s a more industrial approach.

From Seattle Times

Nov. 14, 2003: “What a treat to see late potentilla, pansies and even petunias in bloom. ... These have not been bad replacements for snow at the end of October.”

From New York Times

Physiological, biochemical and proteomics analysis reveals the adaptation strategies of the alpine plant Potentilla saundersiana at altitude gradient of the Northwestern Tibetan Plateau.

From Nature

Rock cropped up there, amid a waste of bents and potentilla and sea-thrift and thyme, and a rill slipped over moss and, a little further on, disappeared into the sand, to emerge again down by the shore.

From Project Gutenberg

Petals minute; stamens and achenes 5–10; otherwise as Potentilla.

From Project Gutenberg