Shrubby fivefingers is a small, low evergreen perennial in the rose family, usually under 25 cm tall, grown mainly for its glossy leaves and small white flowers. It needs full sun, dry, acidic, well-drained soil and cool conditions, and is best suited to rock gardens and alpine beds.
Family
Rosaceae (Rose family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly and let the soil dry out between waterings; it resents wet, soggy roots.
Soil
Dry, acidic, gritty or stony, very well drained
Temperature
Hardy in cool temperate climates; tolerates cold winters, but heat and humid summers are harder for it.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
Greenland to NC. & E. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate
About
Sibbaldia tridentata is a species in the plant family Rosaceae. Its synonyms include the illegitimate name Sibbaldia retusa and Sibbaldiopsis tridentata. Under the latter name, it has been treated as the only species in the genus Sibbaldiopsis. Its English names include three-toothed cinquefoil, shrubby fivefingers, and wineleaf.
Where it grows
Sibbaldia tridentata prefers dry and acidic soil, usually on rocky or gravelly shores that have access to a lot of sun. It is often found on shale outcrops. The species is located all over the central to eastern American states, with disjunct populations extending down the Appalachian Mountains. The species also lives in the Canadian provinces east of and including Alberta, as well as Greenland. In Nova Scotia, the species is very common in the center of the Annapolis Valley and around cliffs or rocky outcrops. The southernmost known populations are located in Georgia and North Carolina, and occupy high-elevation rock outcrops and grassy balds.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sibbaldia tridentata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.