352 LI. ROSACES. (J. D. Hooker.) [Potentilla. 



Alpine Central and Western Himalaya; NIPAL, Wallich. SIKKIM, alt 12-14,000 ft., 

 J. D. H. ; C. B. Clarke. 



Rootstock very long and stout, inclined. Leaves 2-18 in., linear- or obovate-ob- 

 leng in outline, l-2 in. diam. across the broadest part; leaflets usually close and 

 often imbricate, -1 in., tip rounded, sessile, many-nerved, the alternate nerves 

 smaller, upper decurrent; petiole slender or stout; lower stipules membranous, upper 

 leafy toothed. Flowering stems with one or two leaves and a few-flowered irregular 

 corymb. Flowers $ in. diam. ; pedicel elongating after flowering. Calyx silky, 

 lobes triangular acute ; bracteoles various, usually toothed. Petals orbicular, yellow. 

 Stamens 20-30. Achenes few, ^ in. diam., four times as large as in any other Indian 

 species, dark brown ; receptacle low, villous. 



VAR. obscura ; covered with soft spreading hairs, not silvery, leaflets in. broadly 

 oblong membranous less closely serrate softly hairy on both surfaces. Kumaon at 

 Kalari, alt. 13,000 ft., Strach. $ Winterb. I have but one specimen, and though 

 I find no approach to pubescence on it, judging from the variation of P. splendens, 

 Mooniana, and Lesckenaultiana, it may well be referable to peduncularis, with which 

 it altogether agrees in habit, flower, and achenes. 



VAR. Clarkei ; dwarf, sparsely silky, not silvery, leaflets narrowly oblong. Sikkim 

 at Yakla, alt. 14,000 ft., C. B. Clarke. 



20. P. leuconota, Don Prodr. 230 ; leaflets numerous (alternate some- 

 times minute) oblong obtuse sharply closely serrate clothed beneath with ap- 

 pressed shining silky hairs, flowering stems exceeding the leaves, flowers small 

 subumbellate, bracteoles entire, achenes few hairy or glabrous, style very short 

 ventral. Watt. Cat. 1021 (excl. spec, of peduncularis) ; Lehm. Revis. Potentitt. 65, 

 t.24. 



Alpine Himalaya ; GTARWHAL, 10,000 ft., Madden ; NIPAL, Wallich ; SIKKIM, alt. 

 10-16,000 ft., J. D.H. DISTRIB. Borneo (Kina Balou, alt. 11,000 ft., Low). 



Rootstock very stout, sometimes 1 in. diam., inclined. Leaves 2-6 in., very numer- 

 ous, linear in outline or rather broader upwards; leaflets close or sparse, -| in., ses- 

 sile, glabrous or hairy above ; petiole with appressed hairs. Flowering stem erect or 

 ascending, with usually a leaf about the middle, and an imperfect whorl of reduced 

 ones at the inflorescence. Flowers g- in. diam., crowded, the pedicels elongating stif- 

 fening and forming an imperfect umbel as the fruit advances. Calyx silky, lobes 

 acute ; bracteoles linear-lanceolate, entire. Petals obovate, retuse or rounded at the 

 tip, rather longer than the calyx, yellow. Stamens about 20. Achenes not numerous. 



21. P. xnicropliylla, Don Prodr. 231 ; dwarf, densely tufted, sparingly 

 Silky or glabrate, leaflets very numerous small oblong o i rounded pinnatifidly 

 toothed to the middle or deeper, scape exceeding the lea-* es 1- rarely 2-flowered, 

 petals much exceeding the calyx, achenes many minute quite smooth, styles very 

 short ventral. Wall. Cat. 1010. 



Alpine Himalaya, fromGARWHAL, alt. 10-14,700 ft. to SIKKIM, alt. 15-18,000 ft. 



Very variable in habit and stature, forming at high elevations dense hard moss- 

 like tufts, strewed with golden flowers and with the leaves so small and crowded as 

 with difficulty to be distinguished ; at lower eleA^ations the leaves are 4-6 by f in. 

 Leaflets opposite and alternate, uniform, i-^- in. broad, crowded and overlnpping or 

 scattered, flat, or complicate ; petiole slender ; stipules very large, membranous, ob- 

 tuse. Flowering stem or scape erect, rarely shorter than the leaves, appressed-pubes- 

 cent or silky, naked or with an undeveloped leaf and bud above the middle, rarely 

 2-3-flowered. Flowers %-% in. diam. Calyx-lobes acute or obtuse ; bracterles oblong. 

 Petals orbicular or obovate, yellow. Stamens 30-40. Achenes in a globose head on a 

 villous receptacle. 



VAR. o. microphylla proper ; densely tufted, rootstock stout woody, leaves 1 in., peti- 

 ole filiform, leaflets ^ in. 3-5-fid pointing forwards and upwards. P. microphylla, 

 Wall, and 7. depressa, Wall. ; Lehm. Revis. Potentill. 30 ; Monog. Suppl. t. 2, f. 2. 



VAR. ft. glabriusc.ula, Wall. Cat. 1010 ; less densely tufted, leaves 2-3 in., leaflets 



