GENUS 7. 



ROSE FAMILY. 



2. Potentilla simplex Michx. Decumbent 

 Five-finger. Fig. 2228. 



Potentilla simplex- Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 303. 1803. 



Potentilla canadensis simplex T. & G. Fl. N. Am. 1 : 443. 

 1840. 



Rootstock short; stems slender, decumbent, ap- 

 pressed-pubescent, 3 long or less. Leaves glabrous 

 or nearly so above, silky appressed-pubescent be- 

 neath, the basal and lower ones 5-foliolate; stipules 

 lanceolate; petioles appressed-pubescent; leaflets 

 oblong to oblanceolate or obovate, coarsely toothed 

 except near the base, \'-2.\' long; peduncles solitary 

 in the axils of upper leaves, i'-2' long, appressed- 

 pubescent; bractlets linear-lanceolate, ,2"-2i" long, 

 about equalling the slightly broader calyx-lobes; 

 petals yellow, obcordate, 2* "-3" long; stamens 20- 

 25 ; styles filiform. 



Shaded grassy situations, Nova Scotia to North Caro- 

 lina, Alabama, Minnesota and Missouri. May-July. 



Potentilla pumila Poir. Dwarf Five-finger. Fig. 2229. 



P. pumila Poir. in Lam. Enc. Meth. 5: 594. 1804. 

 Potentilla canadensis pumila T. & G. Fl. N. A. i : 443. 

 1840. 



Low, seldom more than a few inches high ; flow- 

 ering stems at first very short and upright; later 

 producing slender prostrate runners ; whole plant 

 densely silky-strigose, with appressed pubescence ; 

 basal leaves digitately 5-foliolate, on slender peti- 

 oles; stem-leaves few and often only 3-foliolate; 

 leaflets obovate, sharply serrate, usually less than 

 i' long; stipules small, lanceolate; flowers few, 

 yellow, 3"-s" broad, the first from the axil of the 

 first stem-leaf; petals broadly obovate, slightly 

 exceeding the narrowly lanceolate sepals and 

 bractlets; stamens about 20. 

 In poor soil, Maine to Ontario, Georgia and Ohio. April-June. 



4. Potentilla canadensis L. Five-finger. Common Cinque foil. Fig. 2230. 



Potentilla canadensis L. Sp. PL 498. 1753. 



Spreading by slender runners 3'-2 long, the pubescence 

 of the stem, petioles and peduncles spreading. Stipules 

 lanceolate, acute, entire or few-toothed ; leaves petioled, 

 digitately 5-foliolate (rarely 3-4-foliolate) ; leaflets ob- 

 lanceolate, obovate or oblong, obtuse at the apex, narrowed 

 at the base, 6"-:' long, serrate ; peduncles slender, axillary, 

 i -flowered, the first from the axil of the second stem- 

 leaf ; flower yellow, 3"-7" broad ; petals 5, broadly oval, 

 slightly longer than the acute calyx-lobes and linear- 

 lanceolate bractlets; stamens about 20; style filiform; 

 achenes glabrous; receptacle villous. 



In dry soil, New Brunswick to Georgia, Minnesota and Texas. 

 Ascends to 6300 ft. in North Carolina. April-Aug. Wild or 

 barren strawberry. Sinkfield. Running buttercups. Star-flower. 



Potentilla caroliniana Poir., a plant of the Southern States, with longer spreading pubescence, 

 and broadly obovate leaflets which are cuneate at the base, enters our area in southern Virginia 

 and Missouri. It is probably a race of P. canadensis L. 



