Small deciduous shrubs (mostly herbs). Twigs very slender, nearly round, with quickly exfoliating bark; pith small, round, brown. Buds relatively large, solitary, sessile, oblong, with about 4 striate scales. Leaf-scars alternate, very small, round, on the end of the clasping 3-nerved leaf-base; bundle-trace 1; stipules persistent.

1. P. fruticosa L. Shrubby Cinquefoil. Low bushy shrub 0.2-1 m. high, the outer bark pale, shreddy. Open ground, Labrador to Alaska, south to Pennsylvania, Iowa, South Dakota, Arizona and California.