432 ROSACEiE. Alchemilla. 



16. ALCHEMILLA. Tourn. ; DC. prodr. 2. ;;. 589. 



■' Calyx-tube obronic, contracted at tlic throat by an annular disk ; the limb 

 4- (rarely -5- ) parted, with as many smaller alternate lobes (bracteoles). 

 Petals none. Stamens 1-4. Ovaries 1-4, stipitate or sessile in the bottom of 

 the calyx : style arising from near the base of the ovary, filifonn : stigma 

 mostly capitate. Achenia 1-4, included in the persistent calyx. Seed fixed 

 near the base of the carpel (at the origin of the style), ascending, almost 

 orthotropous. Radicle superior. — Low herbs, mostly with palmately lobed 

 or compound leaves, adnate stipules, and small corj'mbose flowers. 



§ 1. Perennial : alternate lohes of the calyx or bracteoles smaller than the 

 others : stamens 2-4. — Alchemilla, Linn. 



1. A. vulgaris (Linn.) : leaves radical, reniform, 7-9-lobed to about one- 

 third their depth ; the lobes somewhat semi-orbicular, serrate throughout ; 

 flowers in terminal dichotomous corymbs. — Fl. Dan. t. 963 ; Engl. hot. t. 

 597 ; DC! jjrodr. 2. p. 589 ; Hook. 1 fl,. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 197. 



Greenland ! and Labrador ! but not elsewhere detected in N. America. 



2. A. alpina (Linn.) : leaves radical, 5-7-parted to the base; the seg- 

 ments cuneiform-oblanceolate, incisely serrate with appressed teeth at the 

 apex, silky beneath ; flowers corymbose. — Fl. Dan. t. 49 ,• Engl. hot. t. 

 244 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 112. 



Greenland : also on the summits of the "White Mountains, New Hamp- 

 shire, and Green Mountains, Veniiont, according to Pursh ; but this is ex- 

 tremely doubtful. 



§ 2. Annual : alternate lohes of the calyx minute : fertile stamens 1-2 ; 

 anthers {hy confluence) nearly 1-celled. — Aphanes, Linn. 



3. A. arvensis (Scopoli) : leaves puhescent, petioled, 3-paited; the seg- 

 ments 2-3-cleft; flowers axillary, glomerate. DC. — Scop. fl. Cam. 1. p. 

 115 ; PursJi, I. c. ; DC. ! I. c. Aphanes arvensis, Linn. .' I. c. ; Fl. Dan. 

 t. 973 ; Lam. ill. t. 87. 



Virginia, in fields, Clayton ! probably introduced. — We have seen no 

 American specimens except those in the herbarium of Claj-ton. The two 

 following species of Mr. Nuttall are extremely near the present. 



^ ' A. A. occidentalis (Nutt. ! mss.) : "somewhat hirsute; leaves smaller, 

 smoothish, petioled, 3-parted ; the segments 2-3-clefl ; flowers axillary, 

 clustered ; calyx 4-eleft, with 4 intermediate teeth ; the lobes acute and 

 much shorter than tlie tube. 



" Rocky plains of the Oregon, towards the sea; common. — Closely allied 

 to A. arvensis, but a much smaller plant ; the limb of the calyx shorter, 

 with the intermediate teeth more conspicuous. The seed is also smaller and 

 paler." Nuttall. 



5. A. cun eifoli a {Nntt. I mss.): "somewhat hirsute; leaves cuneiform, 

 cleft and lobed at the sunmiit only, 3-clelt; the segments short; flowers 

 axillary, clustered ; calyx 5-cleft, the intermediate teeth obsolete. 



" Dry plains, St. Barbara, California. — A slender species, with the leaves 

 much longer than broad. Segments of the calyx acute, with now and then 

 a rudimentary or solitary intermediate tooth." Nuttall. 



