Cinquefoil

Initially, this perennial plant develops a few basal leaves on long petioles. By late spring, this plant bolts to become 1–2½' tall, branching frequently along the upper one-third of its length. At this stage of development, it is more or less erect in habit, rather than sprawling or stoloniferous. The terete stems are light green, light reddish green, or nearly white; they are hairy while young, becoming less hairy with age. The hairs of these stems are long, white, and spreading. There are alternate leaves distributed along the entire length of these stems, becoming smaller in size as they ascend. These leaves are palmately compound. The lower leaves have 5-9 leaflets and long petioles, while upper leaves have 3-5 leaflets and either short petioles or they are sessile. Sometimes the uppermost leaves underneath the flowers have only 2 leaflets or they are simple. Individual leaflets are 1¼–3½" long and ¼–¾" across; the middle leaflets are larger in size than the lateral leaflets. The leaflets are elliptic to oblong-oblanceolate in shape, very coarsely toothed along their margins, and sessile. The upper surface of leaflets is green to grayish green and glabrous to sparsely appressed-hairy, while the lower surface of leaflets is light green, spreading-hairy along their central veins, and glabrous to sparsely appressed-hairy elsewhere. The petioles are up to 5" long, light green to nearly white, terete, and spreading-hairy. Leaflet venation is pinnate.
The upper stems terminate in flat-topped clusters of flowers. Each flower is about ¾" across, consisting of 5 pale yellow to yellow petals, 5 hairy green sepals, 25 to 30 stamens with yellowish anthers, and a bright yellow receptacle with numerous pistils. The spreading petals are obcordate, while the sepals are deltate; the petals are a little longer than the sepals. Directly underneath the sepals of each flower, there are 5 linear to linear-lanceolate bractlets that are green and hairy. The branching stalks of the inflorescence and the short pedicels of the flowers are light green to light reddish green, terete, and short-pubescent to spreading-hairy. At the base of floral stalks, there are usually hairy green bracts less than 1" in length.