The pale cream flowers are distinctive, although occasional deep yellow variants occur. This is the largest-flowered cinquefoil that commonly grows wild in our area. It came from Europe and has established itself in vacant lots, unmown fields, and other places where humans have altered the landscape. These plants were blooming in a vacant lot in Beechview.
The leaves have five or seven parts, almost but not completely divided at the center.
One of the ancestors of our domestic strawberries. These plants were blooming at the edge of the woods in a field near Farmington.
Little white flowers that often pass unnoticed at the edge of the woods, where they can be surprisingly abundant. Like many members of the rose family, these plants are a bit sloppy with their petals, which sometimes look rumpled as though they’ve been slept in. These plants were blooming in Bird Park, Mount Lebanon.
For a description of the species, see the Geum canadense reference page.
Of all the common names in circulation, “Seven-Sisters Rose” is the most polite. This is a weedy, thorny rambler that covers itself with heavenly white flowers once a year, scenting the landscape with rose perfume. The individual flowers may be a bit sloppy, but the overall effect is dazzling. Then, all too soon, the show is over, and the plant goes back to being a pest. Most of these were blooming next to a parking lot in Peters Township, but the picture directly below was taken in South Side Park.
Indian Strawberry can bloom almost any month of the year, but right now (May 9) the little yellow flowers are everywhere in lawns and sidewalk cracks.
For a full description, see the Potentilla indica reference page.
