Easily confused with Hybrid Cinquefoil and Trailing Tormentil

Both a yellow dye and a red dye can be extracted from the roots of this plant. One is a phlobaphene, one of the natural tannins of uncertain and somewhat variable chemical structure which are often highly coloured and used as dyes. The Giant Redwood Tree Sequoia sempervirens has red-coloured phlobaphenes as do certain varieties of highly-coloured Maize. There are several other sources of phlobaphenes and their other coloured cousins Kinotannins and Cinchotannic Acids.

There are two sub-species:

• (Potentilla erecta ssp. erecta) with stems up to 25cm long with stem-leaves serrated only in the furthest half and with teeth less than 1.5mm, the leaf at the top is 6 to 16mm long, and smallish petals 2.5 to 4.5mm long. It is common throughout the British Isles in lowlands.
• (Potentilla erecta ssp. strictissima) which is the slightly larger and more robust of the two, with potentially longer stems 15 to 45cm long, has more coarsely-toothed leaves, stem-leaves are serrate over most of their length, the leaf at the top is larger at 12-30mm, and the petals larger at 4 to 6mm. Grows in the upland areas of Britain northwards from South Devon; and in Southern Irelnd. [R]

Tormentil also hybridises with:

• Sulphur Cinquefoil (Potentilla erecta) to produce Potentilla × suberecta
• Creeping Cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans) to produce Potentilla × italica