WAYSIDES^AND WASTES IN SPRING 



93 



We have now to note a flower of the Rose order (Rosacece), but 

 since it is common for a beginner to be confused by the general 

 resemblance of some of the flowers of this group to some of the 

 Ranunculacece, it may be well to point out that in the latter, 

 the stamens are 

 united to the 

 receptacle of 

 the flower, below 

 the carpels, while 

 in the rose order 

 the stamens are 

 attached around 

 or on the ovary 

 itseK. 



The Straw- 

 berry-leaved Cin- 

 quefoil or Barren 

 Strawberry 

 {Potentilla Fraga- 

 ria strum) is very 

 similar to the 

 Wild Strawberry, 

 with which it is 

 often confused ; 

 but no difficulty 

 will arise if it be 

 noted that the 

 species we are 

 now considering 

 produces no run- 

 ning stems. The 

 Barren Straw- 

 berry is a silky 



little plant, with a thick, prostrate stem ; and, as one of its popular 

 names imphes, a ternate leaf resembling that of the Wild Straw- 

 bery. The flowers are white, half an inch or less in diameter, on 

 slender peduncles, with notched petals. This is one of our earliest 

 spring flowers, blooming from February or early March to about 

 the end of May ; and is very common on banks, in hedgerows, and 

 in weedy wastes. 



The Tuberous Moschatel {Adoxa Moschatellina) is a very 



The Grass Vetchlino. 



