ROSE FAMILY 93 
of the enlarged torus—the end of the flower- 
stalk—which forms the edible part of the fruit, 
while in the latter there is an edible pulp sur- 
rounding each tiny seed. 
CINQUEFOILS. Several distinct species of Po- 
tentilla or Cinquefoil are abundant over a large 
part of the northern states and Canada. The 
two most important from our present point of 
view are the Common Cinquefoil and the Silvery 
Cinquefoil. 
The Common Cinquefoil has yellow flowers, 
nearly half an inch in diameter, that resemble 
miniature strawberry blossoms in their structure, 
although the color of the petals is so different. 
Like the strawberry, too, the plant spreads over 
the ground by long and slender runners, which 
often produce a thick carpet of plants in fields and 
along highways, the running stems being smooth 
and almost wire-like. The name Cinquefoil is 
from the French and means five-fingers, so called 
because of the five-parted leaf so characteristic 
of the plant, which indeed with us is quite gener- 
ally called the Five-fingers. 
The Silvery Cinquefoil is at once distinguished 
by its whitened appearance, especially on the 
smaller stems and the lower surface of the leaves. 
The yellow flowers are only about a quarter of 
an inch in diameter and are borne on short, slender 
stems. Like the Common Cinquefoil the species 
