WILD FLOWERS yellow and orange 



it prospers in dry, sandy soils, and in the Sierra Neva- 

 das to California. Also in northern Europe and Asia. 



FIVE-FINGER. WILD STRAWBERRY 



Poteniilla canadensis. Rose Family. 



This common Cinquefoil is very frequently mis- 

 taken for a yellow-flowered Wild Strawberry, owing 

 to a fancied resemblance of its leaves and flowers. 

 It is well to remember, however, that the Cinquefoil 

 has a five-parted leaf, while the Strawberry leaf is three 

 parted. The leaf stems of the former are very smooth, 

 and those of the latter are hairy. It spreads its numer- 

 ous long, slender runners, which often root at the tip, 

 over the ground in every direction from a leafy tuft. 

 There are several medical qualities attributed to 

 this species. The pretty decorative leaf has five thin, 

 coarsely toothed, strongly veined leaflets. They are 

 oblong in shape, and narrowed toward the base. The 

 leaves are of a lighter shade on the under side, and are 

 set on long, smooth stems rising from the root or in 

 little shorter-stemmed groups along the runners, at 

 some little distance apart. The slender-stemmed, 

 solitary flower has five broad-oval, yellow petals and 

 numerous stamens. The petals are notched at the 

 apex, and the hairy green calyx is exposed between 

 them. The many green pistils form a dense little 

 head in the centre. The five-parted calyx is closely 

 supported with five similar and alternating leafy parts 

 that give it a ten-parted appearance. This plant is 

 exceedingly abundant in dry fields, hillsides, and 



135 



