Botanical atlas

Golden Cinquefoil

Potentilla aurea

In the high pastures of the Alps and Carpathians, golden cinquefoil carpeted the same slopes where shepherds grazed their flocks each summer, and its bright five-petaled blooms became a familiar, almost cheerful landmark of the growing season. Like its better-known cousin tormentil, it belongs to a genus long valued in European folk herbalism for a gentle, tannin-rich astringency, and mountain households sometimes steeped the leaves into a simple tea to settle the stomach or ease a scratchy throat after a long day outdoors. It was never as central to the herbal medicine chest as tormentil, but it traveled in the same tradition, gathered more casually and used more sparingly. Today it is treasured at least as much for its beauty in rock gardens as for any remedy tucked into its leaves.

Safety.

Not known to be toxic; like other tannin-rich plants, excessive or long-term tea drinking can irritate the stomach and reduce iron absorption.