130 THE FRUITS OF THE COUNTRY-SIDE 



a greatly enlarged scale, those of the little cinquefoil, the 

 Potentilla reptans. They are composed of five or seven 

 leaflets, spreading like the rays of a fan, the central leaflet 

 being the largest, and the others diminishing in beautiful 

 gradation. In early Autumn they change from green to 

 a rich reddish-brown, and are one of the earliest leaves 

 to fall. From their number and size they strew the 

 ground thickly, and invite prompt removal if scattered 

 on meadow or roadway. They have, moreover, a striking 

 way of coming down almost simultaneously, so that in 

 less than a week the tree, so lately a mass of ruddy foliage, 

 has become but bare branches. 



The flowers are very attractive either singly or col- 

 lectively, the ivory-white petals, with their quaintly waved 

 and crumpled margins, being delicately tinted in their 

 centres with yellow and pink, and the whole mass forming 

 a very graceful hyacinth-like cone of blossoms. These 

 expand in May, and are ordinarily in great profusion ; 

 being found at the ends of the branches, they are very 

 much in evidence. So soon as the flowers are fallen the 

 tree bethinks itself of next year, and the buds develop 

 and continue swelling until the Autumn. They are then 

 overspread with a very tenacious, protective varnish, and 

 so continue until, at the first hint of genial Spring weather, 

 the enclosing scales are unwrapped and thrown aside, and 

 in a few days the tree has wholly discarded its wintry 

 appearance and stands revealed before us fully clothed 

 in verdant beauty. 



In the lower portion of our illustration, Plate XIX., we 

 have depicted the nut ensconced in its green and prickly 

 shell ; the upper case has not yet split open. The nut 



