Spring cinquefoil

Potentilla neumanniana (often listed as P. tabernaemontani, P. verna or P. pusilla), the spring cinquefoil, is a low, mat-forming perennial in the family Rosaceae. It typically grows only 5–15 cm tall, with slender trailing stems rooting at the nodes and bearing the digitate, five-fingered leaves characteristic of cinquefoils, each leaflet finely toothed. From March to May it produces bright yellow, five-petalled flowers about 1–1.5 cm across, held just above the foliage; among European cinquefoils it is one of the earliest to bloom. The small dry achenes are clustered on a flat receptacle in the typical Rosaceae fashion. Native to temperate Europe, it favours dry, marginal habitats including roadsides, calcareous grasslands, rocky meadows, talus slopes and limestone outcrops. The species is widely grown as a ground cover and rock-garden plant for its dense evergreen mats and abundant early-spring colour.