PONTEDBRTA POTENTILLA. 



205 



freely produced in nearly round spikes. 

 Leaves, smooth, ovate, or elliptical, at- 

 tenuated at both ends, the margin 

 slightly rolled back, netted with nu- 

 merous prominent nerves, bright 

 green, sometimes tinged with red 

 above, pale beneath. Mountains of 



Northern India. Borders, and the 



rougher parts of the rock-garden, in 

 ordinary soil. Division. 



Pontederia cordata (Pickerel-weed}. 

 An erect aquatic plant, 14 to 2 ft. 

 high, with shining leathery leaves and 

 spikes of blue flowers. Floivers, in 

 summer and autumn ; numerous, 

 small, of a handsome sky-blue, some- 

 times white, with a greenish spot on 

 the inside of the upper lobe, arranged 

 in a bold spike. Leaves, thick, long 

 stalked, erect, oval - oblong or elon- 

 gated-heart-shaped, of a lively green, 

 on stalks dilated and sheathing at the 



base. Mexico and Brazil. Margins 



of ponds, streams, etc., in any soil. 

 Division. 



Potentilla alba ( White-flowered Gin- 

 quefoil). A prostrate herb, 4 to 6 in. 

 high. Flowers, in early summer ; 

 white, strawberry-like, with a dark 

 orange ring at the base, nearly 1 in. 

 across ; petals obcordate, longer than 

 the calyx. Leaves, green and smooth 

 above, silvery with dense silky down 

 underneath ; lower ones quinate, up- 

 per ones ternate; leaflets oblong, 

 closely serrated at the apex ; stems 

 branched. P. Vaillantii is a variety 

 of this species with petals twice as 



long as the calyx. European Alps. 



Naturalization among dwarf plants, 

 in ordinary sandy soil. Division. 



Potentilla alpestris (Alpine Cinque- 

 foil). A rare native plant, allied 

 to P. verna, but with leaves of a 

 paler green and on footstalks twice as 

 long, 6 to 12 in. high. Flowers, in 

 early summer; bright yellow, about 

 1 in. across; petals heart-shaped; 

 segments of the calyx acute. Leaves, 



of root on stalks about 6 in. long, cut 

 into 5 wedge-shaped divisions, notched 

 at the top, rather hairy ; stem-leaves 

 ternate ; stems ascending. Found on 

 ledges of rocks and elevated slopes in 

 Scotland and Northern England, and 

 also in Switzerland, Lapland, and Den- 

 mark. The rock-garden and bor- 

 ders, in moist sandy loam. Division 

 and seed. 



Potentilla atrosanguinea (Blood 

 Cinquefoil). A large showy kind, 

 clothed with silky hairs, 1^ to 2 ft. 

 high. Flowers, in summer ; beautiful 

 dark crimson, petals obcordate, longer 

 than the calyx. Leaves, ternate, 

 stalked ; leaflets obovate, deeply 

 notched, clothed with white tomen- 

 tum beneath ; stipules ovate-lance- 

 shaped, entire or 2-lobed; stems de- 

 cumbent. There have been numerous 

 splendid hybrids raised from this 

 species. Nepaul. Borders, in or- 

 dinary soil. Division. 



Potentilla calabra (Calalrian Cinque- 

 foil). A very silvery kind, from 4 to 

 10 in. high. Flowers, in early summer ; 

 lemon-yellow, about f in. across, 

 petals longer than the calyx. Leaves, 

 divided into 5 wedge-shaped'segments, 

 tomentose, particularly on the under 

 sides ; leaflets much cut into narrow 

 segments ; stem prostrate. Native 



of Italy and Southern Europe. 



Borders, and naturalized on rather 

 bare banks, in sandy soil. Division 

 and seed. 



Potentilla. fruticosa (Shrully P.) 

 A low shrubby plant, growing 

 in tufts, with reddish, downy stems, 

 from 10 to 20 in. in height. Flowers, 

 all the summer ; small, yellow, nu- 

 merous, in terminal bouquets. Leaves, 

 shortly-stalked, of from 5 to 7 oval- 

 acute leaflets, very downy underneath, 



erect. Pyrenees and Britain. 



Among small shrubs, in rougher parts 

 of the rock-garden, or naturalization, 

 in sandy loam. Division. 



