_ PoTENTILLA. XLVIII. ROSACEA. 251 
minute, subulate ; Sep. spreading, long-acuminate, shorter than the narrow-obo- 
vate, emarginate petals; sty. 00.—A delicate house-plant, with snow-white 
double flowers. Native of Mauritius, , 
42.POTENTILLA. 
Lat. potentia, power; in allusion to its supposed potency in medicine. 
Calyx. concave, deeply 4—5-cleft, with an equal number of alter- 
nate, exterior segments or bracteoles; petals 4—5, obcordate ; sta- 
mens 00; filaments slender ; ovaries collected into a head on a small, 
dry receptacle ; styles deciduous ; achenia 00.— Herbaceous or shrubby. 
Lvs. pinnately or palmately compound. ls. solitary or cymose, mostly 
yellow. . 
* Leaves palmately trifoliate. 
1. P. Norvecica. Norwegian Potentilla or Cinquefou. 
Hirsute; st. erect, dichotomous above; /fts. 3, elliptical or obovate, den- 
tate-serrate, petiolulate; cymes leafy; cal. exceeding the emarginate petals.— 
Old fields and thickets, Arc. Am. to Car. Stem 1—4f high, covered with silky 
hairs, terete, at length forked near the top. Cauline petioles shorter than the 
leaves: Leaflets 4—1}’ by 3—4/, (lower and radical ones very small,) often 
incised. ‘Stipules large, ovate, subentire. Flowers many, crowded, with pale 
yellow petals shorter than the lanceolate, acute, hairy sepals. J].—Sept. 
B.? hirsuta. T. & G. (P. hirsuta. Michx.)—Hairs loose, silky; st. slender, 
erect, subsimple ; lower and middle Ivs. equal, long-petiolate ; /fts. roundish-obo- 
vate, sessile, incisely dentate; fils. few, petals rather conspicuous, nearly as long 
as the calyx.—Dry fields. Withreluctance I adopt the views of Torrey & Gray 
in regard to this plant. ; 
2. P. TRIDENTATA. Ait. Trident or Mowntain Potentilla. 
Smooth; st. ascending, woody and creeping at base; /fts. 3, obovate-cune- 
ate, evergreen, entire, with 3 large teeth at the apex; cymes nearly naked; pet. 
twice longer than the calyx.—On the White Mts.! and other alpine summits in 
the N. States. Flowering stems 6—12’ high, round, often with minute, ap- 
ressed hairs. Petioles mostly longer than the leaves. Leaflets sessile, 9—18! 
ry 4—6"’, coriaceous, smooth. Flowers with white, obovate petals. Carpels 
and achenia with scattered hairs. Jn. Jl. 
3. P. minima. Haller. 
St. pubescent, ascending, mostly 1-flowered; Jvs. trifoliate; J/ts. obovate, 
obtuse, incisely serrate, with 5—9 teeth above; pet. longer than the sepals.— 
Alpine regions of the White Mts. Stems numerous and leafy, 1—3! high. 
Leaflets with the margins and veins beneath hairy. Flowers small.. Petals 
obcordate. Bracteoles oval-obtuse, narrowed at the base. 
** Leaves palmately 3 or 5-foliate. 
4. P. Canapensis. (P. sarmentosa. Willd.) Common Cinquefoil. 
Villose pubescent; st. sarmentose, procumbent and ascending; /vs. pal- 
mately 5-foliate, the leaflets obovate, silky beneath, cut-dentate towards the 
apex, entire and attenuate towards the base; stip. hairy, deeply 2 or 3-cleft, or 
entire ; pedicels axillary, solitary; bracteoles of the calyx longer than the seg- 
ments, and nearly as long as the petals—Common in fields and thickets, U. 8. 
and Can. Stems more or less procumbent at base, from a few inches to a foot 
or more in length. Flowers yellow, on long pedicels. Calyx segments lanceo- 
late or linear. Apr.—Aug. 
B. pumila. T. & G. (P. pumila. Ph.)—Very small and delicate, flowering 
in Apr. and May.—I cannot perceive any difference between this and the above, 
except its diminutive size and early flowering. In dry, sandy soils. Stems 
about 3’ high. 
y- simplec. T. & G. (P. simplex. Michx.)—Plant less hirsute; st. simple, 
erect or ascending at base; /fls. oval-cuneiform; flowering in June—Aug.—In 
richer soils. Stems 8—14’ high. Leaflets about 1’ long, 3 as wide. 
5. P. arGentea. Silvery Cingquefoil. 
ft St. ascending, tomentose, branched above ; /fts. oblong-cuneiform, with a 
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