Sulphur Cinquefoil, Potentilla recta, also known as Rough-fruited Cinquefoil or Five Fingers. The flowers will remind you of strawberries and this plant does produce fruit but it isn’t widely used by foragers. The fruit is said to be edible raw or cooked and “the unripe fruit is almost as pleasant as the fully ripe fruit.” Medicinally cinquefoils have been used as an astringent, tonic, and febrifuge (fever reducer). It was used for fevers, diarrhea, dysentery, passive hemorrhages and a decoction of the root was gargled for ulcerations of the throat and mouth.
Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry
Sulphur Cinquefoil Sources:
Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.
Felter, Harvey Wickes, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D. King’s American Dispensatory, Vol. 2. Cincinnati: The Ohio Valley Company, 1905. pg. 1991-1992
Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Cherokee Plants and Their Uses- A 400 Year History. North Carolina: Herald Publishing. 1975. Print. pg. 29
Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 435
Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 240-241
United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.
Mike, you have a very impressive site with interesting and relevant information. I am especially impressed by the design and construction of your site and excellent illustration of the plants. My grandmother who was a master gardener first got me interested in plants by taking me out into the woods and outdoors and identifying plants for me, having me collect them, examine them well and then quizzing me about them later. It lead me to earn a college degree in botany. More than 50 years after my first trips to the woods with my grandmother I am still reading, collecting and studying plants.
Thanks Jonathan, plants are definitely fascinating. I can see why it takes a lifetime to master them. Thank you for the compliment it is much appreciated, and sorry for the late response your message was somehow hidden.
excellent journey keep it up