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



the obcuneate cut stipules and trifid bracteoles. It appears to be a very scarce plant, 

 and I regret to find Thomson's specimens have been by me mixed in the distribution 

 with those of P. gelida, under the name of P. grandiflora. 



35. P. monanthes, lAndl. in Wall, Cat. 1025 ; glandular or sparsely 

 pubescent, leaflets 3 broadly obcuneate coarsely crenate at the apex, cauline sti- 

 pules broad-ovate acute, flowering stems very many ascending leafy, flowers 

 sessile and pedicelled at the top of the stem, calyx-lobes broad obtuse, bracteoles 

 orbicular-oblong, achenes minute smooth, style terminal. Lehm. Revis. Poten- 

 till. 175. P. cryptantha, Klotzsch in Reis. Pr. Waldem. Sot. t. 12. 



Alpine Himalaya ; from KASHMIR to SIKKIM, alt. 10,000 to 15,000 ft. 



Forming large spreading tufts of. leaves and stems 2-12 in. high from a rather 

 small rootstock, very variable in size. Leaves radical and cauline, all short petioled ; 

 leaflets - in., rather soft, glandular-pubescent on both surfaces, crenatures rounded ; 

 petiole rarely 1 in. ; stipules ^ ^ in., rarely cut F/owers ^-^ in. diam., axillary and 

 subterminal, shortly pedicelled. Calyx pubescent, hemispheric ; bracteoles often larger 

 than the lobes. Petals obovate-orbicular, not much exceeding the calyx, yellow. 

 Achenes exceedingly numerous and minute, on a globose villous receptacle. The 

 rounded tips of the sepals and bracteoles are good characters of this species. The 

 Potentilla 26 of Strachey and Winterbottom from 12,000 ft. in Kumaon is, I think, a 

 minute state. 



VAB. sibthorpioides ; much smaller, stems filiform prostrate, leaflets -| in. broader, 

 flowers \ in. diam., calyx-lobes and bracteoles narrower. Lachen valley, Sikkim, alt. 

 11-1 3,000 ft., J. D. H. 



36. P. curviseta, Hook. f. ; ligid, thinly silky, leaflets 3 narrowly 

 linear-cuneate truncate and trifid at the tip, stipules forming a narrow wing to 

 the petiole for half its length, flowering stems slender, pedicels filiform decurved, 

 achenes 5-6 hairy, style terminal. 



KASHMIR ; at Tilail, alt. 12,000 ft., C. B. Clarke. 



Whole plant rigidly elastic when dry. Rootstock slender, crowned with stiff re- 

 curved almost woody leaf bases. Leaves few, 2-3 in. long; leaflets -1 by |-g- in., 

 suberect, coriaceous, hairy on both surfaces, teeth acute, the lateral leaflets with some- 

 times an additional tooth on the outer margin ; petiole rigid, with a rather mem- 

 branous brown sheath formed by the stipules which above the base form a green 

 narrow margin along the petiole to its middle ; free parts of stipules small, subulate, en- 

 tire. Flowering stems 2-3 in., 2-3-flowered, slender, wiry, with opposite linear bracts 

 at the middle and a cut one at the giving off of the pedicels ; pedicels circinnately in- 

 curved after flowering, naked or with a bract at the middle. Calyx \ in. diam., silky ; 

 lobes lanceolate, acuminate, much larger than the oblong bracteoles. Stamens and 

 carpels about 20. Achenes few, large, obliquely ovoid ; receptacle flat, villous. A 

 very remarkable species, allied to P. tridentata, L.. P. Saxlfraga, Ard., and P. alba, L. 

 The only Himalayan one with hairy carpels. Still more near to the P. pteropoda, 

 Royle, which has 3-5 much broader more toothed leaflets rounded at the tip, and ap- 

 parently larger flowers. I have seen no petals. 



37. P. nivea, Linn. ; Soiss. Flor. Orient, ii. 725 ; dwarf, densely clothed 

 with white appressed tomentum, leaflets 3 rarely 5 small obovate acutely ser- 

 rate, flowering stem 1-3-flowered, calyx villous, petals obcordate, achenes several 

 smooth and faintly wrinkled, style terminal. Lehm. Revis. Potentill. 165. P. 

 csespitosa, Lehm. Add. 2nd. Sem. Hort. Hamb. 1849, 10; Revis. Potentill. 172, 

 t. 53. P. argyrophylla, var. prostrata, Herb. Ind. Or. Hook. f. $ T. 



WESTEBN TiBETand drier Alpine regions of the whole Himalaya, alt. 10-17,000 ft. 

 PISTRIB. Caucasus and westwards to the Alps, Arctic and cold regions of N. Europe, 

 Asia and America. 



