ROSACE.E 135 



Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Eastern 

 Pyrenees. 



Potentilla verna L. Spring Cinquefoil. 



Stems short and tufted, sometimes procumbent at the base. 

 Lower leaves on long stalks with 5 or 7 oblong, toothed leaflets ; 

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

 leaflets, covered wdth silky hairs. Flowers small, yeUow, in irregular 

 panicles at the ends of the short stems. Petals broad, longer than 

 the calyx. A very variable plant, especially in being sometimes 

 almost glabrous, and at other times densely coated with silky hairs. 



Dry pastures and rocks in hilly districts, especially on Umestone. 

 April to July. 



Distribution. — Almost all Europe, Western Asia. British. 



COMARUM L. 



Comarum palustre L. Marsh Cinquefoil. [Potentilla Comarum Nestl.) 

 Rootstock almost woody, thick, decumbent. Stem i to 2 feet 

 high, often purplish. Leaflets usually 5, shortly pinnate at the end 

 of the stalk, oblong, toothed, hoary beneath, or softly hairy on both 

 sides. Stipules entire. Flowers in a loose, irregular corymb, dingy 

 purple or very dark red. Inner calyx-segments broad, outer ones 

 narrow and much smaller. Petals shorter than the calyx. Carpels 

 many, small, on a rather enlarged receptacle. 



Marshes, peat bogs, etc., from the plains to 5000 feet ; not com- 

 mon in Switzerland. June, July. 



Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe (Norway), Arctic 

 Asia and N. America. British. 



Fragaria L. Strawberry. 



The habit, foliage, and flowers are those of Potentilla, but the 

 fruit is succulent, formed of the enlarged receptacle, studded with 

 numerous i-seeded carpels, looking like seeds. 



A small genus, widely spread over the northern hemisphere, 

 with one or two species in S. America. 



In Switzerland, in addition to the Oriental Fragaria indica, which 

 is sub-spontaneous in Tessin, there are 3 indigenous species : 



Fragaria viridis Duchesne (F. collina Ehrh.). 



Calyx erect in fruit. Often without stolons. Stems as long as 

 the leaves, covered with spreading hairs. Flowers often greenish 

 white. Fruit detached with difficulty from the calyx. 



Hills and woods. Common in sub-alpine regions. May. 



Distribution. — Europe, Caucasus, Canaries, Siberia. 

 Fragaria vesca L. Common Strawberry. 



Calyx spreading or reflexed in fruit. Usually with slender stolons. 

 Leaves mostly radical, covered with silky hairs like the stems. 



