56 POPULAR FIELD BOTANY. 
earlier than the other; but they are mentioned together as 
being nearly allied both in habit and appearance. 
Fracaria vesca. Wood Stawberry; and PorEenTILLA 
Fracariastrum. (Plate Il. Fig. 5.)  Strawberxy-leaved 
Cinquefoil. The latter is found the earliest in blossom, 
and is smaller in all its parts than the Strawberry; but 
they are found in the same situation, growing together on 
dry banks, and in woods. The Potentilla has its leaves 
divided into three leaflets, ovate, and deeply serrated, silky 
on both sides, particularly the under. Flowers small and 
white, petals as long as the calyx. Stem procumbent. 
The Fragaria, or real Wood Strawberry, differs in having 
the leaves larger, the whole plant being more vigorous, and 
not so clothed with leaves, but more simple. Root some- 
what woody, sending out long runners, which again take 
root, and thus extend the plant. It flowers from April to 
July, its fruit is ripe in August, and is drooping, scarlet, 
somewhat acid, and fragrant. This is the origin of the 
cultivated Strawberry. The main difference between the 
two plants in question lies in the frmt. In the Strawberry 
it consists of many minute nuts placed upon a large fleshy 
receptacle, which is the part we pull away when eating them; 
in the Potentilla the little nuts grow on a dry receptacle. 
