Yellow to Orange Flowers 329 



dentated. The flowers are bright yellow, and grow in 

 graceful terminal clusters. 



Potentilla gracilis, or Small Cinquefoil, has very small 

 leaves, heart-shaped in outline and composed of from three 

 to seven leaflets, which are white and woolly beneath and 

 green and silky on the top. The little flowers are yellow. 



Potentilla nivea, or Alpine Cinquefoil, grows at great 

 altitudes and is found at 8500 feet. It is a tiny plant, with 

 small trifoliate white and woolly leaves and wee terminal 

 yellow flowers. 



In studying the Potentillas it is wise to refer to the 

 Ranunculi, also recorded in this Section, and note the close 

 resemblance yet distinct variations which exist between the 

 two genera. The differences between the foliage of the 

 Potentillas and that of the Ranunculi have already been 

 referred to in the description of the latter plants, but it may 

 be further noted here that the stamens of the Ranunculi are 

 hypogynous, or borne at the base or below the ovary, while 

 those of the Potentillas are perigynous, or borne on the 

 perianth around the ovary. 



Potentilla unifiora, or One-flowered Cinquefoil, is densely 

 csespitose, from a woody base, and has small closely tufted 

 leaves palmately divided, the leaflets being deeply cut and 

 very white-woolly on both sides. The bright yellow flow- 

 ers are solitary on short stalks and the petals are broad, 

 notched at the apex, and much longer than the narrow, 

 densely hairy sepals. 



Potentilla fruticosa, or Shrubby Cinquefoil, renders the 

 dry sunny alpine meadows very gay in July and August 

 with its lovely bright yellow flowers, which resemble large 

 buttercups and grow on low bushy shrubs, amid much 

 silvery foliage, composed of tiny compound leaves covered 



