ROSACEAE 1 03 



The narrowly oval leaf blades are 1 to 2 inches long and i/^ 

 to 1 inch wide, acute or blunt at the apex, and narrowed at the 

 base to the short petiole. The leaf margin is coarseh' crenate- 

 serrate, and the upper surface may be more or less puberulent. 



The pink or rarely purplish, still more rarely white, flowers 

 are borne in narrow, tomentose panicles 4 to 7 inches long. The 

 calyx lobes are about the length of the floral tube, acute and, 

 at maturity, reflexed. The fruit consists of 5 follicles from 

 each flower; the follicles are tomentose or, in age, somewhat 

 bare at the summit, and there usually are 4 to 7 seeds in each 

 follicle. 



Distribution. — The Hardback is a shrub of low grounds 

 and is said to occur only on acid or sour soils. It is therefore 

 local in occurrence, although where it does occur thousands of 

 plants together may occupy considerable areas. Its range is 

 from Nova Scotia to Manitoba and south to Georgia and Kan- 

 sas. In Illinois, it is recorded only from the northeastern section 

 of the state, notably near Chicago in Cook County, in wet sandy 

 swales in Lake County, in Kankakee County, and also in Iroquois 

 County, near the town of St. Anne. This would indicate a 

 preference in Illinois for a sandy habitat. The shrub should be 

 found, however, in many other parts of the state, if persistent 

 search is made. 



The report of iS. latifolia (Aiton) Borkhausen in Richland 

 County may refer to either of the foregoing species, but it 

 probably refers to S. alba. 



POTENTILLA Linnaeus 

 Cinquefoils Five-Fingers 



The cinquefoils are, with a few shrubby exceptions, annual 

 or perennial herbs with rootstocks, pinnately or digitately 

 compound leaves, and paniculate inflorescences. The flowers 

 commonly have 5 sepals and 5 petals and are bractless. The 

 stamens are generally not more than 20 in number and there 

 usually are numerous pistils attached to a hemispheric or conic 

 receptacle. The seeds are contained within individual carpels. 



There are more than 300 species in this genus, almost all of 

 them distributed in the north temperate zone. About 125 are 

 American, and in Illinois, besides a number of herbaceous 

 species, there occurs the following shrub. 



