ROSACEA. 



Nat. syst. eel. 2. p. 143. 



POTENTILLA. 



Calyx concave, 4-5-cleft, with 4-5 bractlets. Petals 4-5. 

 Stamens numerous. Achenia numerous, collected into a head 

 on the flattish persistent dry receptacle. Style lateral. Seeds 

 suspended. — Herbaceous or suffrutescent plants. Leaves com- 

 pound. Stipules adnate to the petiole. Flowers white or yel- 

 low, rarely red. 



455. P. reptans Linn. sp. pi. 714. E. Bot. t. 862. Woodv. 



t. 59. DC. prodr. ii. 574. Smith Eng. Fl. ii. 423 Common 



in meadows, pastures and elsewhere. 



Root perennial. Stems prostrate, hairy, round, rooting. Leaflets 

 5, obovate, strongly serrated, hairy, rough. Flowers large, bright yellow, 

 on long hairy axillary stalks. Calyx most hairy at the base ; leaflets 

 ovate, about as long as the segments of the calyx but more leafy. 

 Receptacle hairy. — Properties like those of the next species. 



456. P. Tormentilla Sibth.fl. ox. 162. — Tormentilla erecta 

 Linn, sp.pl. 716. Woodv. t. 9. S. and C. i. t. 26. T. officinalis 

 E. Bot. t. 863. — Common in barren pastures, heaths, &c. 



Root woody, internally red. Stems slender, weak, often procumbent or 

 scrambling among bushes. Leaves almost sessile; leaflets 3, oblong, acute, 

 deeply serrated, somewhat hairy ; stipules smaller than the leaflets, 

 deeply cut. Flowers small, bright yellow, with the parts of the calyx 

 and corolla in fours, on slender hairy stalks much longer than the leaves. 

 Carpels corrugated when ripe. — Root very astringent ; in the opinion 

 of some writers it is one of the best medicines of its class, as it produces 

 its astringent effects without causing excitement. Dr. A. T. Thom- 

 son recommends it in some kinds of diarrhoea. It was once considered 

 a specific in syphilis. 



GEUM. 



Calyx flat, permanent ; limb in 10, acute, deep segments ; 5 

 alternate ones much the smallest. Petals 5, rounded, undivided 

 or cloven, attached by their claws to the rim of the calyx oppo- 

 site to its smaller segments, being about equal to the longer 

 ones. Filaments numerous, awl -shaped, from the rim of the 

 calyx, shorter than the corolla. Carpels superior, ovate, com- 

 pressed, very numerous, in a round head ; styles long, lateral, 

 with a joint above the middle ; lower part permanent ; upper 

 225 q 



