(genus Potentilla), any of many flowering plants of the rose family (Rosaceae), comprising about 500 species of herbs and shrubs. The common name, which means “five-leaved,” refers to the number of leaflets in the compound leaf; some species, however, have three or seven leaflets. Most of the species are native to the North Temperate Zone and the Arctic and are chiefly perennial. The stems are creeping or erect. The leaves are digitate (the leaflets arising from a common centre) or pinnate (feather-formed). The solitary, five-petaled flowers are usually yellow, sometimes white or red in horticultural varieties. P. fruticosa has provided many dwarf shrubs used in landscaping.