Potentilla eriocarpa 'Minor'

Perennial of the Rosaceae family, Potentilla eriocarpa is native to the Himalayas, from Kashmir to Nepal, where it grows on rocky areas, stony slopes, and high-altitude short grasslands, generally between 3,000 and 4,500 meters. The 'Minor' form is a horticultural selection even smaller than the type.

It forms a creeping and very dense carpet, rarely exceeding 3 to 5 cm in height, with stems spreading over a few centimeters. The leaves are trifoliate, with very small and rounded leaflets, of a medium green slightly shiny, often tinged with reddish at the base of the stems in spring. It is precisely this disproportion between the fineness of the foliage and the relatively large size of the flowers that makes this form so appealing to lovers of miniature alpine plants.

The flowers are yellow, with five wide and well-opened petals, borne individually on very short peduncles just above the foliage. In its natural habitat, flowering extends from June to August. In cultivation, it generally occurs from May to July.

It requires perfect drainage, a substrate that is poor to moderately rich, and full sun. Ideal for troughs, miniature rock gardens, or crevices in slabs, it requires protection against stagnant winter moisture.