ioo FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE RIVIERA 



POTENTILLA L. 



* Flowers yellow ; all leaves with 3 leaflets. 



P. Tormentilla L. Common Tormentil. Stem slender, rarely rooting, 

 leafy, hairy. Leaves subsessile, radical ones petioled, leaflets obovate-cuneate, 

 tip 3-4-toothed or lobed ; cauline leaflets narrower. Stipules foliaceous, cut. 

 Flowers at least J in. diameter, yellow ; petals 4, slightly passing the calyx. 

 Polymorphic. 



Shady woods and dampish meadows, especially in the mountains. June- 

 August. 



** Flowers yellow ; root-leaves with 5-7 leaflets. 



P. verna L. Spring Potentil. Hairy, prostrate, with much-branched root- 

 stock. Stems tufted, short. Lower leaves on long stalks, with 5-7 oblong 

 toothed leaflets ; upper leaves nearly sessile or shortly stalked, with 5 or rarely 3 

 leaflets, covered with silky hairs. Flowers small, yellow, in irregular panicles. 

 Petals broad, longer than calyx. A very variable plant, sometimes almost 

 glabrous. 



Grassy or stony places, especially on limestone hills. April-May. 



P. argentea L. Silvery Potentil. Stem ascending, branched above, covered 

 with white silky hairs. Leaflets usually 5, incised, very white beneath, oboval, 

 cuneate, lower leaves stalked, upper ones nearly sessile. Flowers small, yellow, 

 in a loose corymb or panicle. 



Dry, stony places in the mountains, rare. May-July. 



P. cinerea Chaix. Hoary Potentil. A greyish or whitish-green prostrate 

 species covered with stellate hairs. Leaflets 5, obovate-cuneate, deeply toothed, 

 whitish on both sides, terminal leaflet shortest. Flowers yellow, large, few, 

 in very loose corymbs. Carpels rugose. Polymorphic. 



Rocks and borders of woods, rare. May-June. Cheiron above Grasse, 

 between Cadiere and Ollioules, Montrieux, etc. 



P. recta L. = P. hirta L. var. recta Briq. Plant 1-2 ft, erect, green, 

 leafy, hairy ; with glandular hairs on the inflorescence. Leaflets 5-7, oblong, flat, 

 very deeply toothed all round, strongly nerved, paler beneath. Stipules often 

 cut Flowers pale yellow, rather large, carpels with a membranous margin. 



Open woods and uncultivated ground, not common. May-June. 



P. hirta L. Hairy Potentil. Allied to the last, but quite covered with 

 long white spreading hairs. Stems often reddish, leafy. Leaflets 5-7, obovate- 

 cuneate, much contracted in lower half, feebly veined, toothed above only. 

 Stipules entire. Flowers very large and handsome (25 mm.) on short pedicles, 

 petals twice length of calyx-lobes. Polymorphic. 



Dry woods and stony places. May-July. 



P. reptans L. Creeping Potentil. Stems stoloniferous, often rooting at 

 the nodes. Leaves petioled, leaflets 5, obovate-cuneate, green, slightly hairy, 

 toothed almost all round. Flowers yellow, large, axillary, solitary, on very long 

 peduncles. Stipules ovate, mostly entire. 



Road-sides and waste ground, common. May-July. 



*** Flowers white. 



P. micrantha Ramond. Small-flowered Potentil. Resembling and taking 

 the place of the common British P. Fragariastrum ; very silky, scape slender, 

 much shorter than the leaves, covered with soft hairs. Root-leaves with 3 

 obovate obtuse leaflets, silky, serrate all round ; stem-leaves simple, i or 2. Petals 

 white, shorter than the calyx (rarely pinkish). 



Limestone rocks and wood clearings in the lower mountains, rather rare. 

 Montrieux (behind Toulon), Esterel, Ste. Agnes above Menton, Foret de la 

 Mairis, etc. 



P. caulescens L. Root-stock woody, stem ascending, leafy, cymosely 

 branched, many flowered, covered with patent hairs. Root-leaves and lower 



