428 ICOSANDRIA— POLYGYNIA. Tormentilla. 



Ringent flowers, with 2 long and 2 short stamens, vary 

 in many instances to a regular 5-cleft corolla, with 5 equal 

 stamens. But this will hardly be thought to set aside the 

 natural orders of Verticillatcc and PersonatcB^ or the class 

 Didynamia of Linnaeus. 



1. T. officinalis. Common Tormentil, or Septfoil. 



Stem ascending, branched. Leaves almost sessile. Stipulas 

 cut. 



T. officinalis. Fl. Br. 552. Engl. Bot. v. 12. t. 863. Willi. 476. 



Curt. Lond.fasc. 5. t. 35. Hook. Scot. 164. Purt. v. 1 . 240. 

 T. erecta. Linn. Sp. PL 7)6. Willd. v. 2. 1112. Huds. 225. FIulL 



112. Relh. \98. fVoodv.t.9. FL Dan. t.o89. 

 Tormentilla. Raii Syn. 257. Ger. Em. 902. f. Lob. Ic. 696./. 



Tillands Ic. 30./. Brmif. Herb. v. 1. 85./ Trag. Hist. 503./ 



Matth. Falgr. v.2.297.f. Ca/ner. £pi<. 685./, excellent. Lonic. 



Kreuterb. 243./ 

 Heptaphyllum. Fuchs. Hist. 260./ 



Potentilla Tormentilla. Sibth. 162. Abbot 1 14. NestL Potent. 65. 

 P. tetrapetala. HalL jun. in Ser. Mus. v. 1.51. 

 Fragaria n. 1 1 1 7. HalL Hist. v. 2. 47. 



In barren pastureSj heaths, and bushy places. 



Perennial. June, July. 



Root woody, internally red, very astringent. Stems weak, slender 

 and wiry, supporting themselves on neighbouring bushes, often 

 procumbent, more or less branched. Leaves of 3 oblong, acute, 

 deeply serrated, dark green leaflets, somewhat hairy, especially 

 the ribs underneath, with a very short, if any, common footstalk. 

 Stipulas smaller than the leaflets, deeply cut. Flowers small, 

 bright yellow, on slender hairy stalks, much longer than the 

 leaves. Cal. ribbed, hairy. Seeds few, wrinkled in the upper 

 part. Thejlowers have, very rarely indeed, 5 petals, and con- 

 sequently 10 segments to the calyx ; an accident not uncommon 

 in several plants. 



The late Miss Johnes of Hafod — "herself a fairer Jlower," 



"untimely plucked, soon faded" ! — gathered the Tormentil in 

 Cardiganshire with double blossoms, like little yellow roses. 



2. T. rejnans. Trailing Tormentil. 



Stem prostrate, scarcely branched. Leaves stalked. Sti- 

 pulas undivided. 



T. reptans. Linn.Sp. PL7\6. mild.v.2.lll2. FL Br. 5^3. EngL 



Bot. V. 12. <.864. Hook. Scot. 164. RaiiSyn.257. 

 Potentilla procumbens. Sibth. 162. 

 P. nemoralis. NestL Potent. 65. 



