THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 119 



{Tanacctuin vulgarc) and accounting for such names as "wild' 

 tansy," "dog's tansy," "goose-tansy" and "goose grass." I 

 suspect that the presence of dog and goose in some of these 

 combinations indicates a coarse or spurious quahty rather than 

 any connection of these animals with the plant. Our only 

 shrubby species of Potentilla is P. frnticosa which inhabits 

 hillside pastures and other dry open places. Besides its name 

 of "prairie weed," of obvious derivation, it is known as "shrub- 

 by cinquefoil" and "hardback," this latter name bestowed up- 

 on it, because it makes mowing with the scythe difficult. 



Not so long ago, the "marsh cinquefoil," which now often 

 goes by the name of Comarinn paltistrc, was regarded by 

 everybody as a true member of the Potentilla genus. It is still 

 kept in the genus by Gray's Manual as Potentilla f^ahtstris, 

 and se\-eral of its vernacular names allude to the relationship. 

 Unlike the other members of its alliance, this species grows 

 in bogs and has thus gained the name of "bog strawberry," 

 1 do not recall ever finding it in marshes, although its l)est 

 kn(Avn name "marsh five-finger" assumes this habitat. It is 

 the only species with purple petals and it is naturalh' called 

 "purple cin(|uefoil," "purple-wort" and "purple marsh-locks," 

 though what "marsh-locks" are, I have never been able to 

 '".■ithom and the dictionaries I have consulted are silent on the 

 subject. "Cowberry" seems e(|ually unintelligible. 



The strawberries ( Fragaria) are universally known by 

 'he name we have here used and a near relati\'e, Ihtchcsiua 

 iudica, whicli closelv resembles them in leaf and fruit, albeit 

 the fruit is insipid and useless, is known as "mock strawberry" 

 nnd "barren strawberrv." "Indian strawberry" is a translation 

 of the specific name and saAors of the "English n.ames" invent- 

 ed for various species that lack real vernacular names. 



Of the word strawberry itself, there are various expla- 

 nations. Some would write it "strav-berrv" from its habit 



