Thread: Plant ID please
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Old 21-09-2007, 12:12 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
Des Higgins Des Higgins is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 520
Default Plant ID please

On Sep 21, 11:39 am, Stewart Robert Hinsley
wrote:
In message . com, Des
Higgins writes

On Sep 20, 5:26 pm, "David \(Normandy\)"
wrote:
We've lost the plant label to this flower (probably nicked by our black
Labrador).


The plant is unusual because it's flowers never appear above the crown of
foliage, they are always buried unseen within the plant. Is this normal?
Not complaining though because the leaves are quite attractive anyway.


Photos at:


http://www.avisoft.co.uk/photos/Hpim5804a.jpg


http://www.avisoft.co.uk/photos/Hpim5807a.jpg


David.


Potentilla.
There is a bunch of these herbaceous ones (e.g. Gibson's Scarlet) with
brick red flowers. It might be hard to tell which variety but it is a
Potentilla. The most familiar garden Potentillas are shrubby with
white, yellow or orange flowers related to P.fruticosa but you have
one of the non shrubby ones. I have one exactly like that in my front
garden. Nice plant although the flowers are usually a bit sparse.


Des


Vegetatively it looks pretty much like Potentilla sterilis (Barren
Strawberry).

There a lot of Potentillas (but the botanists have several minds about
exactly what is and isn't a Potentilla - for example you may find the
shrubby ones under the name Dasiphora fruticosa) but the commonest leaf
configuration has 5 leaflets. This one has 3 leaflets, which would help
with pinning it down, if one can get ones hands on a set of
descriptions.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley


I just meant it might be hard to tell which variety, not the species.
That particular type (herbaceous with 3 leaflets and brick red
flowers; you gave the species name in an earlier post) has a few
different varieties.

Des