Calyx flattish, 5-cleft, with 5 bractlets. Petals 5, linear-oblong, minute. Stamens 5, inserted alternate with the petals into the margin of the woolly disk which lines the base of the calyx. Achenes 5–10; styles lateral.—Low and depressed mountain perennials; included by some in Potentilla. (Dedicated to Dr. Robert Sibbald, professor at Edinburgh at the close of the 17th century.)
1. S. procùmbens, L. Leaflets 3, wedge-shaped, 3-toothed at the apex; petals yellow.—Alpine summits of the White Mts., and northward. (Eu.)
12. ALCHEMÍLLA, Tourn. Lady's Mantle.
Calyx-tube inversely conical, contracted at the throat; limb 4-parted with as many alternate accessory lobes. Petals none. Stamens 1–4. Pistils 1–4; the slender style arising from near the base; achenes included in the tube of the persistent calyx.—Low herbs, with palmately lobed or compound leaves, and small corymbed greenish flowers. (From Alkemelyeh, the Arabic name, having reference to the silky pubescence of some species.)
A. arvénsis, Scop. (Parsley Piert.) Small annual (3–8´ high), leafy; leaves 3-parted, with the wedge-shaped lobes 2–3-cleft, pubescent; flowers fascicled opposite the axils.—Va. and N. C. (Adv. from Eu.)
13. AGRIMÒNIA, Tourn. Agrimony.
Calyx-tube top-shaped, contracted at the throat, beset with hooked bristles above, indurated in fruit and enclosing the 2 achenes; the limb 5-cleft, closed after flowering. Petals 5. Stamens 5–15. Styles terminal. Seed suspended.—Perennial herbs, with interruptedly pinnate leaves, and yellow flowers in slender spiked racemes; bracts 3-cleft. (Name a corruption of Argemonia, of the same derivation as Argemone, p. 59.)
1. A. Eupatòria, L. (Common Agrimony.) Leaflets 5–7 with minute ones intermixed, oblong-obovate, coarsely toothed; petals twice the length of the calyx.—Borders of woods, common. July–Sept. (Eu.)
2. A. parviflòra, Ait. (Small-flowered A.) Leaflets crowded, 11–19, with smaller ones intermixed, lanceolate, acute, deeply and regularly cut-serrate, as well as the stipules; petals small.—Woods and glades, N. Y. and N. J. to Ga., west to Mich., Kan., and La.
14. POTÈRIUM, L. Burnet.
Calyx with a top-shaped tube, constricted at the throat, persistent; the 4 broad petal-like spreading lobes imbricated in the bud, deciduous. Petals none. Stamens 4–12 or more, with flaccid filaments and short anthers. Pistils 1–3; the slender terminal style tipped with a tufted or brush-like stigma. Achene (commonly solitary) enclosed in the 4-angled dry and thickish closed calyx-tube. Seed suspended.—Chiefly perennial herbs, with unequally pinnate leaves, stipules coherent with the petiole, and small, often polygamous or diœcious flowers crowded in a dense head or spike at the summit of a long and naked peduncle, each bracteate and 2-bracteolate. (Name ποτήριον, a drinking-cup, the foliage of Burnet having been used in the preparation of some medicinal drink.)
1. P. Canadénse, Benth. & Hook. (Canadian Burnet.) Stamens 4, long-exserted, club-shaped, white, as is the whole of the elongated and cylindrical spike; stem 3–6° high; leaflets numerous, ovate or oblong-lanceolate, coarsely serrate, obtuse, heart shaped at base, as if stipellate; stipules serrate.—Bogs and wet meadows, Newf. to mountains of Ga., west to Mich.
P. Sanguisórba, L. (Garden Burnet.) Stamens 12 or more in the lower flowers of the globular greenish head, with drooping capillary filaments, the upper flowers pistillate only; stems about 1° high; leaflets numerous, small, ovate, deeply cut.—Fields and rocks, N. Y. to Md. (Adv. from Eu.)
15. RÒSA, Tourn. Rose.
Calyx-tube urn-shaped, contracted at the mouth, becoming fleshy in fruit. Petals 5, obovate or obcordate, inserted with the many stamens into the edge of the hollow thin disk that lines the calyx-tube and within bears the numerous pistils below. Ovaries hairy, becoming bony achenes in fruit.—Shrubby and usually spiny or prickly, with odd-pinnate leaves, and stipules cohering with the petiole; stalks, foliage, etc., often bearing aromatic glands. Many of the species are very variable in their characters, and are often indeterminable upon imperfect specimens. (The ancient Latin name.)
[*] Styles cohering in a protruding column, as long as the stamens.
1. R. setígera, Michx. (Climbing or Prairie Rose.) Stems climbing, armed with stout nearly straight scattered prickles, not bristly; leaflets 3–5, ovate, acute, sharply serrate, smooth or downy beneath; stalks and calyx glandular; flowers corymbed; sepals pointed; petals deep rose-color changing to white; fruit (hip) globular.—Borders of prairies and thickets, Ont. to Ohio, S. C., and Fla., west to Wisc., Neb., and Tex.; also cultivated. July.—The only American climbing rose, or with united protruding styles; strong shoots growing 10–20° in a season.
[*][*] Styles distinct; sepals connivent after flowering and persistent; pedicels and receptacles naked.
[+] Fruit oblong-obovate to oblong; infrastipular spines usually none.
2. R. Engelmánni, Watson. Stems usually 3–4° high or less; infrastipular spines, when present, straight and slender; prickles often abundant; leaflets 5–7, often somewhat resinous-puberulent beneath and the teeth serrulate; flowers solitary; sepals entire, naked or hispid; fruit 6–12´´ long.—Whisky Island, L. Huron, shores of L. Superior, and west to the Red River valley, and in the mountains from N. Mont, and N. Idaho to Col.
[+][+] Fruit globose; infrastipular spines none; acicular prickles often present.
3. R. blánda, Ait. Stems 1–3° high, wholly unarmed (occasionally with a few or very rarely numerous prickles); stipules dilated, naked and entire, or slightly glandular-toothed; leaflets 5–7, usually oblong-lanceolate, cuneate at base and petiolulate, simply serrate, not resinous; flowers usually large, corymbose or solitary; sepals hispid, entire.—On rocks and rocky shores, Newf. to N. Eng., central N. Y., Ill. (La Salle Co.), and the region of the Great Lakes.
4. R. Sàyi, Schwein. Stems usually low (1–2° high), very prickly; stipules usually dilated, glandular-ciliate and resinous; leaflets 3–7, broadly elliptical to oblong-lanceolate, sessile and obtuse or subcordate at base, resinous-puberulent and teeth serrulate; flowers large, solitary (very rarely 2 or 3); outer sepals usually with 1 or 2 narrow lateral lobes, not hispid.—N. Mich. and Wisc. to Minn. and Col.
5. R. Arkansàna, Porter. Stems low, very prickly; stipules narrow, more or less glandular-toothed above (or even glandular-ciliate); leaflets 7–11, broadly elliptical to oblong-oblanceolate, subcuneate at base, sessile or petiolulate, simply toothed, not resinous; flowers corymbose; sepals rarely hispid, the outer lobed.—Minn. to Mo. and W. Tex., west to Col.
[+][+][+] Fruit globose; infrastipular spines present.
6. R. Woòdsii, Lindl. Stems usually low (¼–3° high), with slender straight or recurved spines, sometimes with scattered prickles, or wholly unarmed above; leaflets 5–7, obovate to oblong or lanceolate, more or less toothed; flowers corymbose or solitary; sepals naked or hispid, the outer usually lobed; fruit globose with a short neck.—Minn. to Mo., west to Col.
[*][*][*] Styles distinct; sepals spreading after flowering and deciduous; infrastipular spines usually present, often with scattered prickles; sepals, globose receptacle, and pedicel usually hispid; teeth simple; pubescence not resinous.
[+] Leaflets mostly finely many-toothed.
7. R. Carolìna, L. Stems usually tall (1–7° high), with stout straight or usually more or less curved spines; stipules long and very narrow; leaflets dull green, 5–9 (usually 7), usually narrowly oblong and acute at each end and petiolulate, but often broader, usually pubescent beneath.—Borders of swamps and streams, N. Scotia to Fla., west to Minn. and Miss.
[+][+]