Marsh Cinquefoil

(Comarum palustre)

 

   

 

 

Color Photograph: NRCS Plants Database, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Marsh Cinquefoil (Comarum palustre L.)

Identification: Flowers deep red-purple. Petals small, thin, much smaller than the sepals. Sepals broad, pointed, red-purple. Stamens numerous. Flowers in small clusters at the end of the branches. Leaves compound, with 5 to 7 leaflets arranged in an intermediate condition between pinnate and palmate. Leaflet margins sharply toothed.

Distribution: Across Canada from Greenland to Alaska. Southward in the east to Illinois and New Jersey. In the west to Colorado and California. Also native to northern Europe and Asia.

Habitat: Marsh Cinquefoil is found in peat bogs and swamps.

Flowering period: June to August.

Similar Species: The red-purple flowers with reduced petals and the unique compound leaves are distinctive.

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