Rough-fruited Cinquefoil is an introduced plant that grows erect, 16 to 32 inches high, with hairy stems that are un-branched to the inflorescence. On the many species of Potentilla, P. recta is one of most diverse in it's characteristics. What follows is a general summary.

Leaves are palmately divided into leaflets. The lower leaves are long stalked and have 5 to 7 leaflets and stipules at the leaf stalk base; the upper are smaller, shorter stalked and have 3 leaflets. Leaflets have serrate edges and are much longer than wide and have long hairs on the underside and stiffly appressed hair on the upper side.

Inflorescence: Within the inflorescence many flowers can occur in flattened branched clusters (cymes).

Flowers are pale yellow, 5 parted, around 3/4 inches wide, with heart-shaped petals that have a deeper yellow color at the point of attachment. The receptacle is a brighter deeper yellow containing 80 to 140 carpels with thread-like styles pointing upward. These are surrounded by 15 to 20+ stamens that have yellow filaments and yellowish-brown anthers. The green sepals (calyx lobes) are triangular, shorter than the petals, and hairy. These are placed alternate with the petals so that they are partially visible between the petals. There are also 5 small green still shorter bracts under the sepals and placed directly beneath the petals.

Seed: The flowers produce a capsule containing a number of dry ridged ellipsoid shaped seeds (achenes), about 1.2 to 1.8 mm long, without pappus, that is dispersed by wind action shaking the flowering stem. The seed capsule does not have hooks or burs.

Habitat: Rough-fruited Cinquefoil grows from a crown with fibrous roots. It is found in disturbed areas in full sun and tolerates soils that are heavier and more alkaline.

Names: The species name "recta" means "erect". The genus name, Potentilla, is from the Latin word potens, meaning 'powerful' and refers to the medicinal power of some species of the genus which have medicinal properties. The common name of 'rough-fruited' refers to the ridges on the seeds. The author name for the plant classification - 'L.' refers to Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), Swedish botanist and the developer of the binomial nomenclature of modern taxonomy. The other common names using 'sulfur' refer to the deep color of the petal base and 'five-fingers' is commonly used with the cinquefoils referring to the 5-lobed larger leaves that look like the five fingers of a hand.

Comparisons: Another non-native that is similar to this species is P. norvegica, the Rough Cinquefoil. But there all leaves are 3 parted and the flower sepals and bracts are longer than the petals, which are a darker yellow.