Adirondack Wildflowers:
Marsh Cinquefoil (Comarum palustre)

Adirondack Wildflowers: Marsh Cinquefoil blooming in Barnum Bog (7 July 2012)

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Marsh Cinquefoil is a bog plant that blooms late spring to midsummer in the Adirondacks. It is a member of the rose family. The reddish purple flowers are about one inch wide and have five erect triangular sepals and a conical center. The attractive bluish green leaves have toothed leaflets two to three inches long. The plant is also called Purple Cinquefoil and Purple Marshlocks.

Adirondack Wildflowers: Marsh Cinquefoil blooming on the Barnum Bog (23 June 2012)

The plant is common in bogs, swamps, fens, and shaded sites adjacent to quiet water, throughout the north woods region. Marsh Cinquefoil grows in Canada and the northern US, south to northern Iowa, Ohio, and northern New Jersey.

Adirondack Wildflowers: Marsh Cinquefoil blooming on the Barnum Bog (30 June 2010)

Marsh Cinquefoil is found in Barnum Bog at the Paul Smiths VIC, where it can be seen from the boardwalk on the Boreal Life Trail. Marsh Cinquefoil usually begins blooming in late June at the VIC.

References:

• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Native Plant Database.
• United States Department of Agriculture. Plants Database.
• Doug Ladd. North Woods Wildflowers (Falcon Publishing, 2001), p. 60.
• Lawrence Newcomb. Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Little Brown and Company, 1977), pp. 230-231.
• Roger Tory Peterson and Margaret McKenny. A Field Guide to Wildflowers. Northeastern and North-central North America (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1968) pp. 262-263.
• William K. Chapman, et al. Wildflowers of New York in Color (Syracuse University Press, 1998), pp. 56-57.