''Argentina pacifica'', sometimes called pacific silverweed, silverweed cinquefoil, or simply silverweed, is a low-growing

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

plant with pinnate leaves and yellow flowers. The edible roots were valued by

indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast The Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and prac ...

Description

It is a low-growing ()

plant. It has pinnately compound green

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

with silvery undersides. The yellow, saucer-shaped flowers appear from late spring through summer.

Taxonomy

The plant is a member of the

species aggregate In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

known as ''

Argentina anserina ''Argentina anserina'' (synonym ''Potentilla anserina'') is a perennial flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is known by the common names silverweed, common silverweed or silver cinquefoil. It is native throughout the temperate Northe ...

'' or ''Potentilla anserina''.

Distribution and habitat

Pacific silverweed spreads very quickly in moist areas. Preferring salt marshes, river estuaries and shorelines, they are often seen growing alongside springbank clover. They need sun and regular water.

Uses

Pacific silverweed is important in Pacific Northwest coastal indigenous cultures. Indigenous people dig for its edible roots. As an important vegetable, families maintained rights to access patches through

potlatch A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Scienc ...

. New plants can grow from small root fragments, and with some attention families could guarantee patches persisted for generations, perhaps over thousands of years. Northwest Coast peoples used to dig them in spring with yew-wood shovels before pit-cooking them or boiling them with

eulachon The eulachon ( (''Thaleichthys pacificus''), also spelled oolichan , ooligan , hooligan ), or the candlefish, is a small anadromous species of smelt that spawns in some of the major river systems along the Pacific coast of North America from no ...

grease. Cooked roots have a slightly bitter sweet-potato flavour. Northwest Coast peoples also washed them or mashed them into cakes and dried them for winter.

References

pacifica Groundcovers Plants described in 1898 {{Rosoideae-stub