4-^2 ICOSANDRIA— POLYGYNIA. Potentilla. 



Perennial. June. 



Root woody, blackish, subdivided at the cfown, and bearing nume- 

 rous leaves during winter. In spring it puts forth several re- 

 cumbent, slender, branched, hairy, many-flowered stems. Ra- 

 dical leaves on long hdiwy footstalks, with a pair of small, linear, 

 or awl-shaped, hsin-j st'ipulas at their base ; leaflets constantly 7, 

 dark green, minutely granulated like the last, hairy, linear- 

 wedge-shaped, or somewhat obovate, with a series of very nu- 

 merous deep marginal serratures, the terminal one small, and 

 the base of each leaflet only being narrow and entire ; stem- 

 leaves, except the very lowermost, ternate, frequently opposite, 

 and nearly sessile, with broader, sometimes cloven, stipulas, of 

 which the uppermost of all are replaced by oblong entire bracteas. 

 Fl. numerous, on long, simple, solitary, axillary, or panicled and 

 bracteated, downy, hairy stalks. Cal. hairy, its outer segments 

 linear and narrow, as long as the rest. Pet. about the same 

 length, bright yellow, orange-coloured towards the base. Seeds 

 more or less corrugated. 



Concerning Mr. Haller's plant, published by him, with a figure, in 

 the valuable work of Mr. Seringue, I am perfectly certain, having 

 like himself received it, in various states, from our common friend 

 the late Mr. Davall. I cannot distinguish it from Jacquin's figure, 

 and it is precisely the Scottish plant communicated by Mr. James 

 Donn, which has long remained unchanged, increasing plenti- 

 fully, in my garden. The specimens in the Linnaean herbarium 

 are less luxuriant, but certainly the same. These might induce 

 Linnaeus to quote the figure of Clusius, which I have now re- 

 ferred to P. verna. The small size attributed to the plant of 

 Clusius, its flowering in the early spring, and its being so very 

 abundant by road sides, and in dry open places, in Hungary, 

 lower Austria, &c., with some points in the description, alto- 

 gether answer to verna, one of the most common plants on 

 the continent. Authors still appear not well acquainted with 

 P. opaca, as they continue to speak of it as very near verna. A 

 comparison of their figures in Engl. Bot., both very faithful, may 

 at least prevent this mistake. 



8. P. alba White Ciiiqiiefoil. 



Radical leaves of five elliptic-oblong leaflets; silky beneath ; 

 tipped with converging serratures. Stems thread-shaped, 

 procumbent. Receptacle very hairy, 



P. alba. Li7in.Sp. PL 7 13. mild.v.2. 1106. Fl.Br. 551. Engl. 



Bot. V. 20. t. 1384. Huds. 224. Jacq. Austr. t. 115. Nestl. 



Potent. aS. Hall. jun. in Ser. Mus. v. 1. 50. 

 Pentaphyllon album. Bauh. Hist. v. 2. 398 d./. 398 e. 

 Quinquefolium album majus alterum. Bauh. Pin. 325. 

 Q. Tragi. Trag. Hist. 507./. 



