228 ROSACEA 



6. Spring Cinquefoil (P. vdrna). — Stem prostrate; lower leaves of 

 from 5 to 7 inversely egg-shaped leaflets, serrated towards the end, bristly 

 on the margin, and ribbed beneath ; lower stipules narrow and acute. Plant 

 perennial. This species bears small yellow flowers, tAvo or three together, at 

 the end of its weak prostrate branches, and is, as its name implies, the 

 earliest flowering species, blossoming from April to June. The leaves are 

 green on both surfaces. It is found occasionally on dry pastures, but is not 

 a frequent plant. 



7. Orange Alpine Cinquefoil {P. alpesfris). — Eoot-leaves of 5 wedge- 

 shaped leaflets, somewhat hairy, and deeply cut in the upper portion ; stipules 

 obtuse, upper ones egg-shaped, lower ones lanceolate ; stem ascending. 

 Plant perennial. This Mountain Cinquefoil, which grows in the North of 

 England and Wales, and on some of the Scottish mountains, is somewhat 

 larger than the Spring Cinquefoil, and is more upright in its mode of growth ; 

 but many botanists doubt if it is distinct from the last species. It is called 

 P. salisburgensis by some botanists. 



8. Saw-leaved Hairy Cinquefoil (P. opdca). — Root-leaves of 7 

 narrow wedge-shaped leaflets, deeply serrated ; stem-leaves ternate, mostly 

 opposite ; stems ascending. Plant perennial. This plant, which has also 

 been called P. infer media, was described by Mr. Don as growing on the hills 

 of Clova, the braes of Balquhidder, and the sea-shore opposite Dundee, but, 

 like many other of his records for the same district, it was never confirmed. 



9. Common Tormentil {P. iormentiUa).- — Stem procumbent or ascend- 

 ing ; leaves ternate, sessile, or shortly stalked ; lower leaves quinate on long 

 stalks ; leaflets lanceolate, deeply serrate, or inversely egg-shaped and wedge- 

 shaped. Plant perennial. Two varieties of this plant are commonly found. 

 In one, the leaves are all sessile, except those of the root, and the stem is 

 ascending ; in the second, the lower stem-leaves are stalked and blunt, and 

 the stem prostrate and somewhat rooting. The Tormentil is a pretty little 

 plant in the months of June, July, and August, when its yellow flowers are 

 in great abundance among the short grass of moors and heaths. Its petals 

 are usually four in number, but they are sometimes five ; and in the variety 

 which has a prostrate stem, it is so like the Creeping Cinquefoil that many 

 believe the plants to be identical. In the common form of the Tormentil 

 the stem is usually three or four inches high, and the flowers are of a very 

 bright yellow. It is thought to be one of the most astringent plants of the 

 genus, and it is still retained in the modern list of medicines. So astringent, 

 indeed, are the root-stocks of this plant, that they are used in the Hebrides 

 and Orkney Islands for tanning leather, and are even said to be superior to 

 oak bark for that purpose, one pound being equal in strength to seven 

 pounds of ordinary tan. In Lapland the roots are used for dyeing skins, 

 harness, and gloves of a red colour ; and in Killarney they are given as food 

 to swine. The plant is very abundant in the AVestern Islands of Scotland, 

 and the land was some years since so much injured by digging up these 

 roots that the practice was prohibited. Sheep are very fond of the 

 Tormentil. This plant and its varieties until recently were classed under a 

 distinct genus, called TormentiUa, founded chiefly on the number of petals in 

 the flower ; but this is found to vary too much to afford a distinction. 



