Potentilla rivalisNutt.

brook cinquefoil

WFO wfo-0001016975 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Potentilla rivalis, photographed by Tim Messick
fig. a Tim Messick, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-09-29 / obs. 161127077
Potentilla rivalis, photographed by Tim Messick
fig. b Tim Messick, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 161124777
Potentilla rivalis, photographed by Tim Messick
fig. c Tim Messick, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 161137606
Potentilla rivalis, photographed by Brian Dickerson
fig. d Brian Dickerson, CC0 1.0 / obs. 88730154
Potentilla rivalis, photographed by Alexis López Hernández
fig. e Alexis López Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 88329071
Potentilla rivalis, photographed by Alexis López Hernández
fig. f Alexis López Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 88329053
Potentilla rivalis, photographed by Alexis López Hernández
fig. g Alexis López Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 88329033
Potentilla rivalis, photographed by Nolan Exe
fig. h Nolan Exe, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 85930810

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 36 botanical countries

Regions where Potentilla rivalis is native: Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming AlbertaArizonaBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoIdahoIllinoisIowaKansasMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusettsMexico CentralMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SouthwestMinnesotaMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew MexicoNew YorkNorth DakotaOklahomaOntarioOregonSaskatchewanSouth DakotaTexasUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinWyoming
Native distribution of Potentilla rivalis, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alberta ABT NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southwest MXS
Minnesota MIN
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Dakota NDA
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Saskatchewan SAS
South Dakota SDA
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 50 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -13.6 °C -3.5 °C 6.5 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 21.7 °C 28.1 °C 33.4 °C
Annual rainfall 330 mm 502 mm 1,059 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 6 mm 40 mm 143 mm

It is found where winters bring hard frost. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 50 research-grade observations of Potentilla rivalis that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 12 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Potentilla lateriflora Engl. ex Rydb.
  • Potentilla leucocarpa Rydb.
  • Potentilla millegrana Engelm. ex Lehm.
  • Potentilla millegrana unranked lateriflora Engl.
  • Potentilla pentandra Engelm.
  • Potentilla rivalis var. millegrana (Engelm. ex Lehm.) S.Watson
  • Potentilla rivalis var. pentandra (Engelm.) S.Watson
  • Potentilla rivalis var. rivalis
  • Tridophyllum lateriflorum (Engl. ex Rydb.) Cockerell
  • Tridophyllum leucocarpum (Rydb.) Cockerell
  • Tridophyllum pentandrum (Engelm.) Greene
  • Tridophyllum rivale (Nutt.) Greene

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.