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Botanical Name: Potentilla kleiniana
Family: Rosaceae
Subfamily: Rosoideae
Genus: Potentilla
Species: Potentilla kleiniana
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Rosales
Synonyms: Potentilla reptans. A. Gray. Duchesnea sundaica.
Habitat : Potentilla kleiniana is native to E. Asia – China, Japan, India. It grows on grass thickets, field edges, roadsides and gardens. Field sides, meadows and grassland on mountain slopes at elevations of 400 – 3000 metres in China.
Description:
Potentilla kleiniana is a annual, biennial, or perennial herb, growing to 0.3 m (1ft). Flowering stems prostrate or ascending, 10–50 cm tall, together with petioles pilose or spreading villous, usually rooting at nodes and developing new plants. Radical leaves 3–20 cm including petiole; stipules tinged brown, membranous, abaxially pilose or glabrescent; leaf blade subpedately 5-foliolate; leaflets subsessile or shortly petiolulate, both surfaces green, obovate or oblong-obovate, 0.5–4 × 0.4–2 cm, both surfaces pilose, abaxially densely appressed villous on veins, adaxially sometimes glabrescent, base cuneate, margin acutely or obtusely many serrate, apex obtuse; lower cauline leaves 5-foliolate, upper ones 3-foliolate; stipules green, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, herbaceous, abaxially sparsely villous, margin entire, rarely acutely or acuminately 1- or 2-serrate; petiole gradually shorter higher up stem; leaflets resembling those of radical leaves. Inflorescence terminal, cymose, congested, pseudoumbellate. Flowers 0.8–1 cm in diam.; pedicel 1–1.5 cm, densely spreading villous, bracteate. Sepals triangular-ovate, apex acute or acuminate; epicalyx segments lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, shorter than sepals at anthesis, nearly equaling or slightly longer than sepals in fruit, abaxially pilose, apex acute or acuminate. Petals yellow, obovate, longer than sepals, apex emarginate. Style subterminal, conic, base thickened; stigma dilated. Achenes subglobose, flattened on 1 side, ca. 0.5 mm in diam., rugose.
It is in flower from May to September, and the seeds ripen from May to September.
The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.The plant is self-fertile.
Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.
Cultivation:
We have very little information on this species and do not know if it will be hardy in Britain, though judging by its native range it should succeed outdoors in most parts of the country. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus. Easily grown in a well-drained loam, preferring a position in full sun but tolerating shade. Prefers an alkaline soil but tolerates a slightly acid soil. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer.
Propagation:
Seed – sow early spring or autumn in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division in spring. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found that it is better to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame until they are well established before planting them out in late spring or early summer.
Edible Uses:.…Young leaves and stems – cooked. Fruit – raw or cooked.
Medicinal Uses:
Astringent; Depurative; Febrifuge.
The plant is astringent, depurative and febrifuge. The whole plant is decocted and used in the treatment of colds, influenza, sore throat etc
Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentilla_hippiana
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200011088
http://www.pfaf.org/User/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Potentilla+kleiniana
