SILVERWEED

Argentina anserina

[Formerly: Potentilla anserina]
Rose Family [Rosaceae]  

month8May month8jun month8june month8jul month8july month8Aug

status
statusZnative
flower
flower8yellow
morph
morph8actino
petals
petalsZ5
stem
stem8round
sex
sexZbisexual

18th April 2003, Wardlow Mires, Derbyshire. Photo: © RWD
The leaves are never silvery on the upperside only, but in every other combination.


7th Aug 2007, Martin Mere, Lancashire. Photo: © RWD
Sometimes the leaves are not silvery at all.


23rd Sept 2004, under Whernside, Yorkshire Dales. Photo: © RWD
The trailing stems are quite often reddish.


7th Aug 2007, Martin Mere, Lancashire. Photo: © RWD
The leaves heavily toothed. The flowers yellow with five petals.


7th Aug 2007, Martin Mere, Lancashire. Photo: © RWD


11th July 2005, River Kent, Cumbria. Photo: © RWD
Occasionally there are 4-petalled flowers.


31st July 2007, Quakers Stang, Warton, Lancs. Photo: © RWD


23rd Sept 2004, under Whernside, Yorkshire Dales. Photo: © RWD


6th Sept 2015, sand dunes, Hall Road, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
Meanwhile, some leaves turn a russet orange on the surface and curl up as if embracing an invisible presence to revealing their silvery obverse.


11th June 2016, Cronton ex-Colliery reserve, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
The silvery nature of the underside of the leaves is due to long white hairs running flat and longitudinally along the surface of the leaf.


11th June 2016, Cronton ex-Colliery reserve, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
The silvery nature of the underside of the leaves is more in evidence in this photo, as are the veins.


The leaves bear some similarity to those of : Salad Burnet and Fodder Burnet, but the leaves on Silverweed are more ovate and sometimes silvery.

Uniquely identifiable characteristics : a 5-petalled yellow flower with singly-pinnate leaves that have quite distinct saw-tooth teeth. Sometimes these leaves are silvery on the underside, and fewer times silvery on the topside too, but never silvery on only the top-side. The silveriness is imparted by silky white hairs on the leaves and the stems.

Distinguishing Feature : The saw-toothed leaves which are sometimes silvery and the 5-petalled yellow flowers. Red stolons spread over the ground which root at intervals. In the 1990's it was reclassified from genus potentilla to argentina and is now called argentina answerina.

Silverweed likes to grow in quite damp ground, even grassy roadsides with running water in the gutter.


USE BY BUTTERFLIES
LAYS EGGS ON CATERPILLAR CHRYSALIS BUTTERFLY
Grizzled Skipper



  Argentina anserina  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Rosaceae  

Distribution
family8rose family8Rosaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Argentina
Argentina
(Silverweed)

SILVERWEED

Argentina anserina

[Formerly: Potentilla anserina]
Rose Family [Rosaceae]  

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