204 PLANT IDENTIFICATION. 



Habitat, etc. Dry sandy banks in shady places. The 

 only special point regarding nutrition I have observed is 

 that the leaves arising on the underground stem mostly 

 have long stalks, a common arrangement for bringing the 

 foliage into a favourable position for carrying on the work 

 of the plant. I found the plant growing under crowded 

 conditions. Further, as the burden of " elaboration " falls 

 upon these leaves, the blades are much larger than are 

 those found upon the flowering branches. Besides pro- 

 pagation by means of seeds, there are runners which give 

 rise to fresh buds in a vegetative manner. 



B. THE TORMENTIL. 

 (Potentilla tormentilla.) 



This is a perennial herb. It has slender fibrous rootlets 

 arising from a thickened branching underground stem. 

 From the axils of brown scales on the underground stem 

 arise slender branches 6 inches to 10 inches, bearing simple 

 leaves and terminating in flowers. From the axils of the 

 leaves other branches may be developed, and these also 

 terminate in single flowers. Branches are reddish below, 

 green above, cylindric, firm, and solid. Leaves divided, 

 three segments, wedge-shaped, three or five toothed, petiole 

 is very short, and there is a pair of large green leaf -like 

 stipules. These are lobed, and are shorter and broader 

 than the leaf segments. 



Flowers are solitary, |- inch or so in diameter, may be even 

 f inch, upon slender hairy pedicels 1 to 2 inches long. Be- 

 ceptacle is somewhat expanded, and on its margin are the 

 sepals. These are normally 4 in number, free with 

 epicalyx of 4 simple pointed, ovate, lanceolate segments 

 as long as sepals. I find the number of parts in the several 

 whorls may vary. In the epicalyx the parts grade off 

 from having one or two teeth to deeper lobing, ultimately 

 forming separate segments giving five or six parts. This 

 increase in parts here is sometimes continued uniformly 

 through the different whorls. The floral formula is appa- 

 rently 4, 4, 16, 8, but 5, 5, 20, 16 I have found frequently. 



