636 ICOSANDRIA. POLYGYNIA. Tormentilla. 
P. alpestris, (as ascertained by Haller* jun. and sanctioned by Smith* 
hitherto denominated P. aurea by most authors,) is an extremely variable 
species ; but the entire bases of the wedge-shaped leafits, and the deep 
wide segments of their upper part* destitute of the silvery margin of 
P. aurea * are characteristic. Sm. E.) 
Golden Cinquefoil. Pastures near Kippax* three miles from Pontefract. 
Ray. (Rocks of Malghyrdy, Ben Teskerney* Ben Lawers* and Craig 
Cailleach. Mr. Brown. Rocks above Gordale Scar* Yorkshire. Mr. 
Brunton. Near Corbridge Mill* Northumberland: and on basaltic rocks 
at Wince Bridge* Teesdale. Mr. Winch. E.) P. June—Aug. 
{p- alba admitted on rather slight authority* and without any precise 
station* in the time of Hudson* has never been found since in Britain. 
E.) 
TORMENTII/LA.* Calyx eight-cleft: Petals four: Seeds 
naked, beardless, fixed to a small juiceless receptacle. 
T. officina'us. Stem somewhat ascending* branched : leaves sessile. 
Kniph. 6— Ludw. 174— Curt. 337—( E. Bot. 863. E.)— Blackw. 445— FI. 
Dan. 589— Woodv. 27— Park. 394. 1— Fuchs. 260— J. B. ii. 398. g. 2— 
Sheldr. 47— Trag. 503— Matth. 977— Dod. 118— Lob. Obs. 395. 2. Ic. 
696. 2— Ger. Em. 992— H. Ox. ii. 19. 13— Pet. 41. 9—Ger. 840. 
Stems generally declining* (six to eight inches long* slender. E.) Flower - 
ing branches ascending. Leaf-scales in pairs* wedge-shaped* deeply di¬ 
vided into three or more lobes. Woodw. leaves of a beautiful green* 
ternate. Root-leaves on leaf-stalks. Leaf-stalks shorter than the breadth 
of the leafits. Leafits serrated. Calyx, the four smaller segments on the 
outside of the other four. Petals sometimes five* of a fine yellow* orange- 
coloured at the base ; claws very short. Stamens fourteen to eighteen. 
Pistils six to sixteen. Receptacle woolly. {Root large and woody. 
Flowers sometimes* though rarely* double ; drooping before expansion. 
E-) _ 
Unwilling as we are to change a Linnsean name* his trivial erecta, (upright)* 
given to the present species, is so very inapplicable that we have chosen, 
with Curtis* to call it T. officinalis. 
Septfoil. Common Tormentil. (Irish: Neaunadis. Welsh: Tresgl- 
ymoch; Melyn y twynau. Gaelic : Bdr-braonan-nan-con. E.) T. erecta. 
Linn. Huds. Lightf. Relh. Hull. Willd. T. officinalis. Curt. Sm. Hook. 
Purt. Potentilla sylvestris. Neckar. P. Tormentilla. With. Ed. 2. Sibth. 
Abbot. Grev. Moors* barren pastures* and shady places. 
P. June—Sept.f 
* Diminutive of tormen, the cholic, certain plants of this genus having acquired credit 
as a remedy for such complaints. E.) 
f The roots may rank with the strongest vegetable astringents, and as such have a place 
in the modern practice of physic. They are used in several countries to tan leather. 
Farmers find them very efficacious in the dysenteries of cattle. They dye red. Cows, 
goats, sheep, and swine eat it. Horses refuse it. Linn. A horse eat it. (M. Hermestadt, 
of Berlin, asserts, that a pound and a half of Tormentil will tan as much dry hide as seven 
pounds of oak bark. Month. Mag. v. 19- Bulleyn, in his “ Book of Simples,” asserts, on the 
authority of the Norfolk shepherds, that Tormentil in pastures prevents that very destruc¬ 
tive disease the rot in sheep.—Abundant in the Orkney and Western Isles, where the roots 
are in much request by the inhabitants. E.) 
