the.com/cinquefoil
a five-fingered weed so determined it photobombed medieval coats of arms and witch trials alike
means A low-growing plant of the rose family (genus Potentilla) with leaves typically divided into five leaflets, or, in architecture and heraldry, a five-lobed ornamental shape resembling such a leaf.
from From Old French cincfoil, itself stitched together from Latin quinque, "five," and folium, "leaf" — a cousin of the foliage and portfolios of the world. So the name is simply a botanist's headcount: five leaves, plainly stated. The same Latin folium also flowered into trefoil (three) and quatrefoil (four), making cinquefoil the eldest sibling in a tidy numerical family of leaf-shapes.
- name math
- Latin for five leaves, count them yourself
- witch flier
- key ingredient in legendary flying ointment recipes
- heraldry star
- its five-petal shape graces ancient noble shields
- strawberry cousin
- belongs to the rose family, like its fruity relatives
- root tonic
- once chewed to soothe sore throats and fevers
potentilla reptans — creeping cinquefoil plant native to europe, identified by five leaflets and yellow flowers
tormentil potentilla erecta — upright cinquefoil species found across temperate europe with distinctive four-petaled flowers
cinquefoil heraldry — five-petaled flower symbol used in medieval european coats of arms, including percy family crest