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Alchemilla alpina L.

Mountain lady's-mantle (en), Satinée (fr), Alchémille des Alpes (fr), Herbe de Saint-Sabin (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Rosales > Rosaceae > Alchemilla

Characteristics

Plants dwarfed, green to dark green, ?carpet-forming, 5–20 cm, rarely taller?. Stems appressed-to ascending-hairy. Leaves: stipules translucent, quickly turning brownish; blade ± orbiculate, palmately compound, leaflets 5–7, narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, apices with 7–11 teeth, margins flat, abaxial surface sericeous, adaxial shiny, glabrous. Inflorescences: primary branches densely appressed-hairy. Pedicels ?usually shorter than hypanthia?, densely appressed-hairy. Flowers: epicalyx bractlet lengths 0.5 or less times sepals; hypanthium densely pubescent; ?sepals erect after flowering?. Achenes not exserted.
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A small perennial herb. It has a creeping woody rootstock and forms mats. It grows 0.15 m high and spreads 0.15 m wide. The leaves are greyish green on top and silvery underneath. They have long stalks. The flowers are greenish-yellow and small.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination apogamy
Spread epizoochory
Mature width (meter) 0.15 - 0.5
Mature height (meter) 0.13 - 0.2
Root system creeping-root
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) 0.4
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

It is a temperate plant. It grows naturally in northern and western Europe on acid soils. It is damaged by drought and frost. It grows on a range of soils but does best on well drained acid soils. It can grow in sun or part shade. In Hobart Botanical gardens.
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Meadows, pastureland and woodland clearings, mainly on acid soils.
Light 4-9
Soil humidity 3-7
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity 2-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 4-7

Usage

The young leaves are eaten raw or cooked. The root is eaten cooked. The leaves are used to blend tea.
Uses medicinal tea
Edible leaves roots
Therapeutic use Carminative (unspecified), Obesity (unspecified), Diuretic (unspecified), Ache(Stomach) (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

It is grown from seed sown in the spring. The seed usually germinates in 3-4 weeks at 16°C. Plants can also be grown by division of the clump.
Mode divisions seedlings
Germination duration (days) 21 - 30
Germination temperacture (C°) 15 - 21
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -40
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Alchemilla alpina habit picture by Julia Henning (cc-by-sa)
Alchemilla alpina habit picture by Nicolas Legay (cc-by-sa)
Alchemilla alpina habit picture by Chris Georges (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Alchemilla alpina leaf picture by stephanie brouillet (cc-by-sa)
Alchemilla alpina leaf picture by Delphine Toret-Nourtier (cc-by-sa)
Alchemilla alpina leaf picture by Marie Pronost (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Alchemilla alpina flower picture by gael dagonneau (cc-by-sa)
Alchemilla alpina flower picture by Alain Bigou (cc-by-sa)
Alchemilla alpina flower picture by Robert BONHOMME (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Alchemilla alpina world distribution map, present in Andorra, Austria, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Greenland, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Norway, Russian Federation, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and Sweden

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:720359-1
WFO ID wfo-0000998050
COL ID BHDT
BDTFX ID 74732
INPN ID 81033
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Alchemilla glomerata Alchemilla glomerata Alchemilla viridicans Alchemilla alpina subsp. glomerata Alchemilla alpina var. glomerata Alchemilla alpina subsp. assurgens Alchemilla alpina var. burnatiana Alchemilla alpina var. debilicaulis Alchemilla alpina
WorldFloraDB 2024