POTENTILLA PRINSEPIA 223 



ultimately peeling bark, largely covered when young by the stipules. Leaves 

 pinnate, i to i^ ins. long, composed generally of five leaflets, occasionally 

 three or seven. "Leaflets i to i in. long, to % in. wide ; lanceolate, pointed, 

 entire ; downy beneath, stalkless ; the three terminal ones sometimes united 

 at the base. Flowers bright butter-cup yellow, each i to i ins. across, 

 solitary or a few together. Calyx green, with five broad triangular lobes 

 alternating with five narcow linear bracts, all hairy like the flower-stalk. 



Native of the north of England and of the west of Ireland, and scattered 

 over many parts of the northern hemisphere, both in the New and Old Worlds. 

 With such an extensive habitat it naturally varies a great deal, and the 

 following varieties may be briefly distinguished : 



Var. GRANDIFLORA, Willdenow. Leaves and flowers larger than ordinary, 

 the latter averaging i ins. across, yellow. 



Var. LEUCANTHA, Spath. Flowers white. 



Var. MICRANDRA, Koehne. Differs from the type in its low-spreading 

 habit, its broader leaflets, and shorter stamens. Flowers yellow. 



Var. OCHROLEUCA, Spath. Flowers of a soft sulphur-yellow. 



Var. PYRENAICA, Willdenoiu (P. prostrata, Lapeyrouse}. A dwarf mountain 

 form, 6 to 1 8 ins. high, of close habit. Flowers yellow. 



Var. TENUIFOLIA, Lehmann. Native of Western N. America, with narrower 

 leaflets than ordinary, also distinguished by being more hairy, and of a greyer 

 aspect. 



Var. VEITCHII (P. Veitchii, Wilson). Leaves silky-hairy, grey-green, not 

 silvery above, glaucous beneath ; flowers white. A very fine form from 

 Hupeh, China. Syn. P. davurica var. Veitchii, Jesson (Bot. Mag., t. 8637). 



Var. VILMORINIANA. Leaves of a marked silvery hue ; flowers creamy 

 white. The most striking of the white-flowered sorts. 



In all its forms P. fruticosa is useful, because it flowers after the great 

 bulk of hardy shrubs are past, and remains for many weeks in beauty. It 

 commences to bloom in July, and continues until the end of September. 



P. SALESOVIANA, Stephan. , 



(Bot. Mag., t. 7258.) 



A deciduous shrub of lax habit, 3 to 4 ft. high, making coarse, erect, reddish 

 growths, but little branched, silky, half covered with the large silvery stipules. 

 Leaves pinnate, 2 to 4 ins. long ; leaflets five to nine, shortly stalked, oblong, 

 | to i ins. long, J to in. wide, increasing in size towards the end of the leaf, 

 with broad angular teeth ; dark green and smooth above, grey-Woolly beneath. 

 Flowers rosy-tinted white, produced in June and July at the summit of a 

 long-stalked corymb 4 to 6 ins. high, each of the three to seven flowers \\ ins. 

 across ; petals obovate ; calyx-lobes lanceolate, and as long as the petals, the 

 five bracts smaller, linear, and about half as long, very downy. 



Native of Siberia ; introduced in 1823. This species is very distinct from 

 the other shrubby species in its larger, more numerous, toothed leaflets, and 

 in its coarser growths, which are hollow and die back considerably in winter. 



PRINSEPIA SINENSIS, Oliver. ROSACES. 



(Plagiospermum sinense, Oliver ; Hooker's Icon. Plant., t. 1526.) 



A deciduous shrub of rather lax, spreading habit, about 6 ft. high; 

 stems armed with solitary, stiff, short spines, from beneath which spring 

 the leaves ; pith chambered (divided into thin plates). Leaves alternate 



