Tall Cinquefoil Seeds (Drymocallis arguta)

Tall cinquefoil establishes itself in dry (sometimes craggy) soils from a sturdy anchoring taproot, wherefrom it emerges as a statuesque and magnificent sentinel of grasslands, displaying its welcoming flowers high above the canopy of surrounding grasses. It says, “I’m here.”

Primarily occurring east of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountains, this tall rose-family member extends all the way into New England and eastern Canada (although scattered waifs sometimes show up in more far-flung places such as the Willamette Valley).

With leaves covered in short, slightly sticky hairs, tall cinquefoil bears tight clusters of white and yellow strawberry-like flowers that arise on 4-foot-high stems from handsome rosettes of compound leaves. 

The popcorn-looking flowers are popular with syrphid flies and small sweat bees, and, with the foliage being a possible caterpillar host plant for the two-banded checkered skipper (Pyrgus ruralis), the grizzled skipper (Pyrgus centaureae), and the Dorcas copper (Lycaena dorcas) butterflies. 

Typically long-lived, this is a statement plant for gardens, a dry meadow plant for pollinators, a plant with big, interesting leafy textures, and reliable summer flowers. 

Approximately 300 seeds (0.1 grams).