306 ROSACEiE. POTENTILLA. 



Stipules lanceolate ; petals (white) oblong-obovate, longer than the calyx. — Ait. Kew. (ed. 1.) 

 2. p. 216. «. 9 ; Michx. fl-\.p. 304 ; Engl. hot. t. 2389 ; Lehm. I. c. ; Torr. fl. I. p. 495 ; 

 DC. prodr. 2. p. 585 ; Beck, hot. p. 106 ; Torr. 4- Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 445. 



Flowering stems 4-10 inches high, clothed with appressed hairs, sheathed at the base 

 with the imbricated persistent petioles and stipules of former leaves. Leaflets nearly an inch 

 long, somewhat coriaceous, mostly 3-toothed, but often 4 - 5-toothed. Flowers 6 - 8 at the 

 summit of each stem, in a corymbose cyme. Calyx hairy ; the segments a little longer than 

 the bracteoles. Petals sometimes with a tinge of red. Carpels and receptacle villous. Style 

 lateral. Seed ascending. 



Clefts of rocks on mountains ; Fishkill, Catskill and Essex mountains. A native also of 

 Europe. 



** Leave} palmatcly ^-/etiolate. 



3. PoTENTiLLA CANADENSIS, Linti. Commofi Cinque/oil. Five-finger. 



Hairy ; stems sarmentose, procumbent and ascending ; leaflets obovate-cuneiform, silky 

 underneath when young, incisely serrate ; pedicels axillary, solitary, elongated ; bracteoles 

 longer than the calyx-segments, and rather shorter than the broadly obovale retuse petals. — 

 Linn. sp. 1. p. 498 ; Michx. fl. 1 p. 303 ; Nestl. Potent, p. 10. t. 5; Pursh, fl. I. p. 354 ; 

 Lehm. Potent, p. 118 ; Ell. sk. I. p. 574 ; Torr.fl. 1. p. 496 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 575 ; Beck, 

 bot. p. 106; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 303 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. U3. P. pumila, 

 Pair, diet. 5. p. 594 ; Pursh, I. c. P. simplex, Michx. I. c. ; Nestl. I. c. t. 9./. 2 ; Lehm. 

 I. c. ; Ell. I. c; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 204; Beck, I. c. ; Darlingt. I. c. P. sarmentosa, Willd. 

 enum. 1 . p. 554 ; Bigel. I. c. 



Root perennial. Stems at first very short and nearly erect, finally 1-2 feet long, sarmen- 

 tose, and more or less ascending at the extremity, often several from one root. Leaves very 

 silky-villous when young : leaflets about an inch long, the lower part entire, the upper acutely 

 serrate or incised. Pedicels slender, longer than the leaves. Calyx hairy ; segments and 

 bracteoles lanceolate. Petals yellow ; when first expanded, often a little shorter than the 

 calyx, but usually somewhat longer. Ovaries smooth : style inserted a hltle below the sum- 

 mit. Seed suspended. 



Fields and woods ; very common. April - August. 



This species varies considerably in appearance, according to its age, and the situation in 

 which it grows. Early in the spring, and in open sterile places, it is very dwarfish, and 

 clothed with while silky hairs. In this slate it is the P. pumila of Poiret. Later in the 

 season, when it becomes smoother and throws out prostrate runners, it is the ordinary P. 

 Canadensis. Its smoother and more erect state, as it grows in woods and bushy situations, 

 is the P. simplex and P. sarmentosa of authors. 



