YELLOW 



foliage, and that the "blue-bird's warble" has been heard for 

 some time when these pretty flowers begin to dot the woods. 

 The lines which run : 



Yet slight thy form, and low thy seat, 



And earthward bent thy gentle eye, 

 Unapt the passing view to meet, 



When loftier flowers are flaunting nigh, 



would seem to apply more correctly to' the round-leaved, V. ro- 

 tundifolia, than to the downy violet, for although its large, flat 

 shining leaves are somewhat conspicuous, its flowers are borne 

 singly on a low scape, which would be less apt to attract notice 

 than the tall, leafy flowering stems of the other. 



COMMON CINQUEFOIL. FIVE FINGER. 



Potentilla Canadensis. Rose Family. 



Stem. Slender, prostrate, or sometimes erect. Leaves. Divided really 

 into three leaflets, but apparently into five by the parting of the lateral leaf- 

 lets. Flowers. Yellow, growing singly from the axils of the leaves. Calyx. 

 Deeply five-cleft, with bracts between each tooth, thus appearing ten-cleft. 

 Corolla. Of five rounded petals. Stamens. Many. Pistils. Many in a 

 head. 



From spring to nearly midsummer the roads are bordered 

 and the fields carpeted with the bright flowers of the common 

 cinquefoil. The passer-by unconsciously betrays his recognition 

 of some of the prominent features of the Rose family by often 

 assuming that the plant is a yellow-flowered wild strawberry. 

 Both of the English names refer to the pretty foliage, cinque- 

 foil being derived from the French cinque feui lies. The generic 

 name, Potentilla, has reference to the powerful medicinal proper- 

 ties formerly attributed to the genus. 



SHRUBBY CINQUEFOIL. FIVE FINGER. 



Potentilla fruticosa. Rose Family. 



Stem. Erect, shrubby, one to four feet high. Leaves, Divided into 

 five to seven narrow leaflets. Flowers. Yellow, resembling those of the 

 common cinquefoil. 



Of all the cinquefoils perhaps this one most truly merits the 

 .title five finger. Certainly its slender leaflets are much more 



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