BOSACBJEl. 163 



Stjb-Gentts III.— COMAEUM. lAnn. 



Petals oblanceolate, acuminate. Stamens very numerous. Fruit- 

 receptacle conical, spongy. Carpels very numerous. 



SPECIES XL-POT ENTILL A COMARUM, NeslL 

 Plate CCCCXXXVIL 



Jienth. Handbook Brit. Bot. p. 195. 



Comarum palustre, Litm. Bab. Man. Brit. Bot. ed. v. p. 96. Ilook. & Am. Brit. Fl. 



ed. viii. p. 128. 

 Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ, ct Hclv. ed. ii. p. 235. Fries, Sum. Veg. Scand. p. 44. Gr. & Godr. 



Fl. de Fr. Vol. I. p. 535. Sm. Eng. Bot. No. 172. 

 Potentilla palustris, Scop. D. C. Prod. VoL II. p. 683. 



Rootstock extensively creeping. Lower leaves stalked, pinnate 

 with 2 to 3 pairs of lateral leaQets ; leaflets approximate, elliptical 

 or oblong-elliptical, obtuse or acute, coarsely and evenly serrate, 

 glaucous beneath ; upper leaves subsessile, often ternate. Stipules 

 with the free portion large, ovate-cuspidate, frequently incised. 

 Outer calyx-segments strap-shaped, inner ones broadly ovate, 

 abruptly acuminated. Petals oblanceolate, acuminate. Recep- 

 tacle finely downy, at length elongate-conical, spongy. Carpels 

 glabrous. 



In marshes and spongy peat-bogs. Common in mountainous 

 districts, but generally distributed throughout Britain, though rare 

 in the South of England. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Summer. 



Rootstock blackish, creeping amongst the mud, branched, the 

 divisions terminating in elongated flowering-stems or in barren 

 shoots. Stems decumbent at the base, then erect or ascending, 

 1 to 2 feet high. Leaflets 1 to 3 inches long, generally all approxi- 

 mate, so that the leaf appears to be digitate, with large acute serra- 

 tures rounded on their outer margin. Flowers dark-purple, 1 to 

 1^ inch across, in a terminal cyme. Inner calyx-segments very 

 large, much longer than the petals, dull-purple within. Petals 

 narrow, dark-purple. Stamens and styles purple. Disk woolly, 

 as well as the spongy receptacle, which becomes longer than 

 broad. Carpels minute, very numerous, brownish, smooth, with 

 the styles persistent. Whole plant sparingly hairy. Leaves 

 glaucous underneath. 



Marsh Cinqtiefoil. 



French, Comaret des Afarais. German, Sumpf Blutauge. 

 VOL. III. X 



