Flora Medica

ROSACES.Nat. syst. ed.2.p. 14-3.POTENTILLA.Calyx concave, 4-5-cleft, with 4-5 bractlets. Petals 4-5.Stamens numerous. Achenia numerous, collected into a headon the flattish persistent dry receptacle. Style lateral. Seedssuspended. Herbaceous or suffrutescent plants. Leaves compound.Stipules adnate to the petiole. Flowers white or yellow,rarely red.4-55, P. reptans Linn. sp. pi 714. E. Sot. t. 862. Woodv.t. 59. DC. prodr.ii. 574. Smith Eng. Fl. ii. 423 Commonin meadows, pastures and elsewhere.Root perennial. Stems prostrate, hairy, round, rooting. Leaflets5, obovate, strongly serrated, hairy, rough. Flowers large, bright yellow,on long hairy axillary stalks. Calyx most hairy at the base ; leafletsovate, about as long as the segments of the calyx but more leafy.Receptacle hairy. Properties like those of the next species.456. P. Tormentilla Sibth.fi.ox. 162. Tormentilla erectaLinn, sp.pl. 716. Woodv. t. 9. S. and C. i. t. 26. T. officinalisE. Bot. t. 863. Common in barren pastures, heaths, &c.Root woody, internally red. Stems slender, weak, often procumbent orscrambling among bushes. Leaves almost sessile; leaflets 3, oblong, acute,deeply serrated, somewhat hairy ; stipules smaller than the leaflets,deeply cut. Flowers small, bright yellow, with the parts of the calyxand corolla in fours, on slender hairy stalks much longer than the leaves.Carpels corrugated when ripe. Root very astringent ; in the opinionof some writers it is one of the best medicines of its class, as it producesits astringent effects without causing excitement. Dr. A. T. Thomsonrecommends it in some kinds of diarrhoea. It was once considereda specificin syphilis.GEUM.Calyx flat, permanent limb in ; 10, acute, deep segments 5 ;alternate ones much the smallest. Petals 5, rounded, undividedor cloven, attached by their claws to the rim of the calyx oppositeto its smaller segments, being about equal to the longerones. Filaments numerous, awl-shaped, from the rim of thecalyx, shorter than the corolla. Carpels superior, ovate, compressed,very numerous, in a round head ;styles long, lateral,with a joint above the middle ; lower part permanent ; upper225 cj