Flora of Israel: Creeping cinquefoil

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


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


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.