72 POTENTILLA. — SANGUISORBA. 



when they have assumed the fine yellow tint which precedes their 

 decay. 



185. P. ARGENTEA. Dry gravelly places, rare. B. Road-sides 

 west of Stitchell, not common, Dr. R. D. Thomson. Stitchell Lynn, 

 Dr. F. Douglas. 



186. P. VERNA. Rare. N. Plentiful on Spindlestone hills. 

 May. 



187. P. REPTANS. Road-sides and horders of fields in stony places, 

 not uncommon. June- Aug. 



188. P. FRAGARIASTRTJM. Woods, deans, and hedge-banks, every- 

 where. It appears partial to braes covered vidth the Sloe. April, May. 



189. ToRMENTiLLA OFFICINALIS = Potentilla tormentUla. Tor- 

 mentil. — Muirs and barren pastures, very common. June-July. — 

 The Cheviot herds call the Tormentil the (KiDC^iBafe]). In the Lam- 

 mermuirs the root is called the ^ift^^jtvO'S^Winot, and is used, when 

 boiled in milk, for the cure of diarrhoea. The plant itself, under the 

 name Jjlf Jiil-an'OsJSXooll, is a popular astringent medicine for children. 

 For this purpose it is collected and dried. JSlooti^root is another 

 name for the plant ; and both names are obviously derived from the 

 disease it is administered to cure, viz. the dysentery. It is also given 

 to sheep to cure them of the braxy, and of a singular disease called 

 the " Loupin-ill," from one of its most obvious symptoms ; for when 

 a person go6s up to a sheep aifected with it, the animal leaps into the 

 air as if suddenly surprised, and falls down exhausted and apparently 

 dead. 



The ToRMENTiLLA REPTANS has been stated to grow in Berwick- 

 shire, but I have seen no specimens ; and as the species is a critical 

 one, I omit it from the register until future observations confirm its 

 claim. 



190. Alchemilla VULGARIS. iLatlg'sisilMantlc. Common at 

 road-sides ; wastes, especially on the waste ground at the sides of our 

 burns; and in pastures, flowering in June. — The Rev. Charles Abbot 

 thinks this " the most elegant plant " of all our natives. Fl. Bedf. 

 36. This elegance, combined with the shape of the leaf, undoubtedly 

 suggested the English name of the herb, and its dedication to " our 

 Lady." From the shape of the leaves, the plant has been also called 

 iBurfufoot, and, in the north, Bear's-foot. See Rail Syn. 158. 



191. A. ARVENSis. In light gravelly fields, and on dikes capped 

 with earth, common. May. — Sometimes called by the common 

 people, 33otojl=^li3ti2ra:S£i, and administered, in infusion or decoction, 

 to children labouring under the " hives," which is a species of chronic 

 diarrhoea. G. Henderson. It is probably a useful medicine, having 

 the same properties as A. vulgaris, which are somewhat tonic and 

 astringent. Lindley's Introd. Nat. Syst. p. 81. 



192. Sanguisorba officinalis. Don's Gard. Diet. ii. 594. 

 Rare. B. In the bed of the Tweed below Birghara, sparingly. — R. 



