This is a large genus, including rightly popular shrubs that flower all summer, as well as many smaller plants, suitable for the rock garden. They are known as cinquefoils, although not all have the leaves divided into five leaflets. Sibbaldia and Sibbaldiopsis are closely related, both having the tips of the leaves divided into three broad teeth.

Potentilla atrosanguinea is a fairly small herbaceous plant, making a tight clump of slightly hairy leaves, shaped like those of a strawberry. The short stems carry the really bright red flowers.