Alchemilla propinqua

Alchemilla propinqua is one of the many apomictic microspecies that make up the lady's-mantle aggregate (Alchemilla vulgaris sensu lato) in the rose family (Rosaceae). Like its relatives it is a low, clump-forming perennial herb growing from a stout woody rootstock, with long-stalked, rounded to kidney-shaped leaves that are palmately lobed and toothed and often softly hairy, the leaf surface characteristically catching beads of dew and rain. Small, inconspicuous yellow-green flowers lacking true petals are borne in loose branched clusters above the foliage in summer, followed by tiny dry single-seeded fruits. The plant occurs in meadows, grassy slopes, open woodland and montane grassland, and like other members of the aggregate is distinguished from its near-relatives mainly by subtle differences in leaf shape, lobing, hairiness and inflorescence detail that require close examination to determine.