122 ROSE FAMILY. 



6. GEUM, AVENS. (From Greek word, meaning to give an agreeable 

 flavor; the roots of some species somewhat scented.) Several wild species, 

 only the following common : fl. late spring and summer. 2/ 



G. rivale, PURPLE or WATER AVENS. In bogs and low grounds N. : 

 thickish rootstock (sometimes used in medicine as an astringent) sending up 

 lyrately and interruptedly pinnate leaves, and rather naked several-flowered 

 stems (2 high) ; the flowers pretty large, nodding, with purplish-orange and 

 broadly obovate or ol>cordate petals narrowed at the base, never spreading ; in 

 fruit the head of akencs erect, stalked in the persistent calyx, the persistent 

 style? jointed and bent in the middle, the upper part plumose-hairy. 



G. vdrnum, SPRING A. Thickets, from Ohio to Illinois and Kentucky: 

 slender, 2 -3 high ; root-leaves rounded heart-shaped and 3-5-lobed, or some 

 of them pinnate and cut ; flowers small, with yellow petals alxmt the length of 

 the simply 5-lobed calyx ; the head of fruit raised above the calyx on a con- 

 spicuous stalk ; the styles, &c. smooth, the upper joint falling oft'. 



G. Strictum, FIELD A. Moist grounds and fields : a coarse herb, 3 -5 

 high, rather hairy, with root-leaves interruptedly pinnate and the leaflets wed-e- 

 obovate, those of the stem with 3-5 narrower leaflets; in summer bearing 

 panicled flowers with broadly obovate golden-vellow petals exceeding the calyx ; 

 stipules large, deeply cut; head of fruit close in the calyx ; the persistent naked 

 style hooked at the end after the short upper joint falls ; receptacle downy. 



G. Virginianum, WHITE A. Thickets and border of woods : Coarse 

 and bristly-hairy herb l-3 high, with root and lower leaves of several pin- 

 ^ nate leaflets, the upper 3-parted and cut ; the panicled flowers small, with incon- 

 spicuous greenish-white petals shorter than the calyx ; head of fruit like the 

 last, but its receptacle smooth. 



G. album, WHITE A. Grows in similar places with the preceding, and 

 like it, but smooth or soft-pubescent, with root-leaves of 3 - 5 leaflets, or some 

 of them rounded and simple except a few minute leaflets below ; the petals as 

 long as the calyx, white or pale greenish-yellow ; receptacle of fruit bristly. 



7. POTENTILLA, CINQUEFOIL, FIVE-FINGER. (Name from 

 potens, powerful, from reputed medicinal virtues, but these plants are merely 

 mild astringents.) Wild plants of the country, except those of the last 

 section, and one yellow one : but the Shrubby Cinquefoil is also planted. 



I . Petals jKile yellow, small, not sur/Kissing the calyx. 



-M : P. Norvdgica, NORWAY C. An erect, hairy, weedy plant, l-2 high, 

 i) branching above, with only 3 obovate : oblong and cut-toothed leaflets : fl. sum- 

 mer, in fields. 



P. paradpxa. A spreading or procumbent, pubescent, weedy plant, on 

 river-banks W., with pinnate leaves of 5 - 9 obovate-oblong cut-toothed leaflets, 

 and akenes with a thick appendage at their base : fl. summer. 



2. Petals whitish or cream-color, broad, surpassing the ca///.r : akencs smoot-h. 2Z 



P. argllta. A stout, erect, brownish-hairy, coarse plant, l-4 high, 



rather clammy above, on rocky bills X. < W., with pinnate leaves of 3-9 oval 



or ovate cut-toothed leaflets soft-downy beneath, and a close terminal cluster of 



rather large flowers, of no beauty, in summer. 



3. Petals bright i/rlloir, larqer than the lolies of the calyx. ^ 



* Leaves o/T> digitate lea/lets. 



P. r6cta. Cult, in some old gardens, from En. : a coarse, erect, hairy 

 plant, 2 - .'5 high, with M>metimes 7 narrowly wedge-oblong leaflets coarsely 

 toothed, and rather lar^e cynune flowers. 



P. Canadensis, COMMON WILD C. or FIVF.-FINC.KR. Open dry ground : 

 dwarf, silky-hairy, with wedgo-obovate leaflets, and axillary 1 -flowered pedun- 

 cles ; flowering from earlv spring to midsummer, and spreading by runners. 



\ * _ . _ . 1 . ' . 1 1 11 11 I 1 *1 



^^ Th^ar. simplex, in moister or richer soil, usually well marked by its greater 

 si/.e and greener foliage ; the stems l-2 long, ascending or spreading from 

 T3 short tuberous rootstock; leaflets more oblong ; flowers produced through the 

 rammer. 



