Potentilla reptans, Creeping Cinquefoil,
Five finger grass,
Hebrew: חמשן זוחל, Arabic: عشبة القوى الزاحفة

Scientific name:  Potentilla reptans L.
Common name:  Creeping Cinquefoil, Five finger grass
Hebrew name:  חמשן זוחל
Arabic name:  عشبة القوى الزاحفة
Family:  Rosaceae, ורדיים

פרחים בישראל, צמחי בר, פרח בר, תמונות

Life form:  Hemicryptophyte
Leaves:  Alternate, rosette, compound, pinnate, dentate or serrate
Flowers:  Yellow
Flowering Period:  April, May, June
Habitat:   Humid habitats
Distribution:  Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands
Chorotype:  Med + Euro-Siberian
Summer shedding:  Perennating

Potentilla reptans, Creeping Cinquefoil, Five finger grass, חמשן זוחל


Derivation of the botanical name:
Potentilla, Latin potens, powerful; in reference to the medicinal properties of some species.
reptans, creeping.
Cinquefoil, “five-leaved”.
The Hebrew name: חמשן, hamsen, from חמש, chames, five.
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

Israel, Nature, Palestine, Flowers