Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Rosales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Sibbaldia tridentata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Three-toothed Cinquefoil has a slightly woody (suffruticose) stem, as short as it is, and the plant is barely 4-6" tall or long. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Sibbaldiopsis tridentata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Sibbaldia tridentata
SYNONYMOUS WITH (REJECTED NAME) Sibbaldia: a molecular phylogenetic study of a remarkably polyphyletic genus in Rosaceae (Eriksson et al., 2015
Sibbaldia retusa
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 9 (2014)
Sibbaldiopsis tridentata
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 097-04-008:
Potentilla tridentata FAMILY Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Sibbaldiopsis tridentata
COMMON NAME:
Wineleaf Cinqefoil, Mountain Cinqefoil, Three-toothed Cinqefoil, Mountain White Potentilla
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_sitr3_001_lvd
)
Diane Creaton dmc03298
June Avery County NC
The Roan Highlands
Though superficially appearing herbaceous, it is really an evergreen sub-shrub, per Weakley's Flora (2025).
)
JK Marlow jkm100626_146
June Avery County NC
The Roan Highlands
)
Keith Bradley kab_s_tridentata_9860
June Buncombe County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
White flowers, borne on thin wiry stems 2-12" long, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
COMPARE
flowers of Cinquefoil and Strawberry species
)
Keith Bradley kab_s_tridentata_9864
June Buncombe County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm0407t_30
July Mitchell County NC
The Roan Highlands
The leaflets are wedge-shaped and have 3 teeth at the apex, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Sibbaldia tridentata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Sibbaldiopsis tridentata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Sibbaldia tridentata
SYNONYMOUS WITH (REJECTED NAME)
Sibbaldia: a molecular phylogenetic study of a remarkably polyphyletic genus in Rosaceae (Eriksson et al., 2015
Sibbaldia retusa
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 9
Sibbaldiopsis tridentata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 097-04-008:
Potentilla tridentata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Sibbaldiopsis tridentata
1148
Subshrub
Perennial
Habitat: Grassy balds, crevices of rock outcrops at high (rarely moderate, or northwards at low) elevations, high elevation glades, sometimes locally abundant, per Weakley's Flora
Native to North Carolina & Georgia
Uncommon in NC Mountains (rare in GA)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Evergreen
Ternately compound
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer
White
Radially symmetrical
5 united sepals/5 bracts
5 petals
28 stamens (approximately)
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Brown
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p136
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p230
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p357
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p157
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p119
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p153
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p438
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p324
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p070
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