136 THE ROSE FAMILY. [Potentilt*. 



The species are numerous, extending over the whole of the northern 

 hemisphere without the tropics, especially in Europe and Asia, penetrat- 

 ing into the Arctic regions, and descending along the mountain-ranges 

 of America to its southern extremity. The genus, already extended by 

 the admission of Tormentilla, Comarum, and Sibbcddia, would perhaps 

 be still better defined if Fragaria were likewise included. It would 

 then comprise all fiosaoece with . double calyx, numerous, distinct, 

 1-seeded carpels, not enclosed in its tube, ard the styles not trans- 

 formed into long, feathery beaks or awns. 



Leaves digitately divided. 



Flowers white 1. P. Fragariastrum. 



Flowers yellow. 



Petals 4 in all, or nearly all, the flowers . . . . 3. P. Tormentilla. 

 Petals 5 in all, or nearly all, the flowers. 



Leaves very white underneath 4. P. argentea. 



Leaves green on both sides. 



Stems creeping, and rooting at the nodes . . . 2. P. reptans. 

 Stems short and tufted, leaflets 5-7 . . . . 5. P. verna. 



Stems short and tufted, leaflet* 3 6. P. Sibbaldi. 



Leaves pinnately divided. 



Flowers dingy purple 10. P. Comarum. 



Flowers white 9. P. rupestris. 



Flowers yellow. 



Stem much branched, often shrubby. Leaflets few, ob- 

 long 7. P. fruticosa. 



Stem creeping. Leaflets numerous, silky underneath . 8. P. anserina. 



Two red-flowered East Indian species, with digitate leaves, P. nepa- 

 lensis and P. atropurpurea, and several of their hybrids, are frequently 

 to be met with in our gardens. [P. norvegica, Linn., a hirsute erect 

 annual with palmately 3-foliolate leaves and yellow flowers, is natu- 

 ralised in several English counties, and multiplying rapidly.] 



1. P. Frag-ariastrum, Ehrh. (fig. 313). Strawberry-leaved P. Re- 

 sembles the Strawberry in its short, tufted stems, silky hairs, 3 leaflets 

 regularly toothed almost all round, and white flowers ; but the 

 receptacle does not swell or become succulent as the fruit ripens. 

 The stem itself is also often shortly creeping, either under or above 

 ground, and the flowering branches are less erect than in the Straw- 

 berry ; the petals usually smaller, although variable, sometimes narrow 

 and scarcely so long as the calyx, sometimes nearly as large as in the 

 common wild Strawberry. 



On banks, dry pastures, and in open woods, in western and central 

 Europe, extending northward to South Sweden, and eastward to the 

 Crimea and the Caucasus. Abundant in England, Ireland, and southern 

 Scotland, but becoming rare in the Highlands. PI. early spring. 



2. P.- reptans, Linn. (fig. 314). Cinquefoil. Stock seldom much 

 tufted, with slender, prostrate stems, often rooting at the nodes, and 

 sometimes extending to a considerable length. Stipules ovate, mostly 

 entire. Leaves all stalked, with 5 obovate or oblong, coarsely toothed 

 leaflets. Flowers single, on long peduncles, apparently axillary, or 

 rarely forming a loose terminal cyme, as in P. Tormentilla. Petals 

 large and yellow, mostly 5, but occasionally 4. 



In rich pastures, borders of meadows, edges of woods, and hedges, 

 throughout Europe and Russian Asia, except the extreme north. . Abun- 

 dant in England and Ireland, but decreasing much in Scotland. PL 

 tummer and autumn. Much as the common form of this species differ! 



