Vor. IL] ROSE FAMILY. aii 
10. COMARUM Wasp. Pl so2. 1753: 
A stout dark green nearly glabrous herb, with alternate pinnate large-stipuled leaves, the 
large purple flowers cymose or solitary, terminal or also axillary. Calyx deeply 5-lobed, 5- 
bracteolate, the bractlets narrow. Petals shorter than the calyx-lobes, acute, purple. 
Stamens numerous, inserted on the large pubescent disk. Pistils numerous, inserted on the 
pubescent receptacle which becomes spongy in fruit. Style lateral. Achenes glabrous, 
1-seeded. Seed pendulous. [Greek name of the Arbutus, from the similar fruits. ] 
A monotypic genus of the north temperate zone. 
1. Comarum palustre I. Purple or 
Marsh Cinquefoil. Purple Marshlocks. 
Cowberry. (Fig. 1937.) 
Comarum palustre I,. Sp. Pl. 502. 1753. 
Potentilla palustris Scop. F\. Carn. Ed. 2, 1:359. 1772. 
Decumbent and somewhat woody at the base, the 
upper partofthestems pubescent. Leaves pinnate, 
the lower long-petioled, 5~—7-foliolate; leaflets ob- 
long or oval, sharply or incisely serrate, obtuse or 
acutish at the apex, narrowed at the base, 1/-3/ 
long; stipules membranous, sometimes adnate to 
the petiole for half its length; upper leaves nearly 
sessile 3-5-foliolate; flowers showy, 9//-15’’ broad; 
calyx-lobes purple within, ovate, acuminate, much 
exceeding the ovate-lanceolate petals; bractlets 
much shorter than the calyx-lobes; disk lobed. 
In swamps and peat-bogs, Labrador to New Jersey, 
Iowa, British Columbiaand Alaska. Alsoin California, 
northern Europe and Asia. June-Aug. 
11. SIBBALDIA L. Sp. Pl. 284. 1753- 
Depressed alpine or arctic shrubby plants, with alternate mainly 3-foliolate stipulate 
leaves, and cymose flowers on scape-like nearly leafless peduncles. Calyx slightly concave, 
5-lobed, 5-bracteolate, persistent. Petals 5, oblong or oval, much smaller than the calyx-lobes, 
yellow. Stamens 5, opposite the calyx-lobes, inserted on the margin of the villous-pubescent 
disk. Carpels 5-10, on short pubescent stipes; style lateral. Achenes 5-10, glabrous. 
{Named in honor of Robt. Sibbald, a Scotch naturalist. ] 
About 5 species, natives of the colder parts of the north temperate zone. The following is the 
only known American species. 
1. Sibbaldia procumbens [L,. Sibbaldia. 
(Fig. 1938.) 
Sibbaldia procumbens U,. Sp. Pl. 284. 1753. 
Potentilla procumbens Clairy. Man. Herb. Suisse, 166. 1811. 
Densely tufted, stem woody, decumbent or creeping, 
a few inches long. Stipules membranous, lanceolate 
or ovate-lanceolate, adnate; leaves 3-foliolate; petioles 
slender, 2’-4’ long; leaflets obovate or oblanceolate, 
cuneate at the base, 3-5-toothed at the apex, pubescent 
with scattered hairs on both sides, resembling in out- 
line those of Potentilla tridentata; peduncles axillary, 
nearly naked, about equalling the leaves; flowers yel- 
low, about 24’ broad, numerous; petals oblong or oval, 
very small; calyx-lobes obleng-ovate, acute, longer 
and broader than the bractlets. 
Summits of the White Mountains; Mt. Albert, Quebec; 
Labrador, Greenland, arctic America to Alaska, south in 
the Rocky Mountains to Utah. Also in arctic and alpine 
Europe and Asia. Summer. 
