clustered lady's mantle

Alchemilla glomerulans, the clustered lady's mantle, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae native to northern Europe and subarctic regions, including Scandinavia, Iceland, the British Isles, and alpine habitats in central Europe. Like all Alchemilla species, it produces rounded, palmately lobed leaves with a distinctive pleated surface texture and water-repellent properties that cause morning dew and rain to bead into droplets, held in the leaf center—a phenomenon that has historically been associated with alchemical associations with pure water. The small yellow-green flowers are apomictic in Alchemilla, meaning seeds develop without fertilization, which simplifies reproduction but limits genetic recombination. A. glomerulans grows in damp grasslands, mountain meadows, streamsides, and moist tundra habitats, often at higher elevations and latitudes. The species is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, being locally common across its northern and alpine range. Alchemilla species have long been used in herbal medicine, particularly in treating wounds and gynecological conditions, with A. vulgaris (common lady's mantle) being the most widely used species.