Snow cinquefoil

Potentilla nivalis, the snow cinquefoil, is a low-growing perennial herb of the Rosaceae native to high mountain habitats of southern and central Europe, particularly the Pyrenees, Alps, and adjacent ranges. Plants form small, tufted cushions 5 to 20 cm high arising from a stout, woody rootstock. The leaves are mostly basal, palmately divided into three to five obovate leaflets with deeply toothed margins, silky-haired beneath and grey-green above. Flowering stems bear one to several five-petaled white flowers about 1.5 to 2.5 cm across, with a yellow center and prominent stamens, blooming in mid- to late summer. The fruit is an aggregate of small dry achenes. Potentilla nivalis grows on calcareous rocks, screes, and cliff ledges at subalpine to alpine elevations.