There are several kinds of Argentina, differing from Potentilla in the
leaflets and the style.
[Sidenote: =Silver-weed=
_Argentìna Anserìna_ (_Potentilla_)
=Yellow
Spring, summer, autumn
North America, etc.=]
This forms large straggling clumps of many, pale, downy stems, lying
on the ground and rooting at the joints, like strawberry runners, with
handsome foliage and pretty flowers. The leaves are rich green on the
upper side and covered with silky white down on the under, giving a
silvery appearance, and the flowers are an inch or more across, bright
yellow, with centers of the same shade, and have long flower-stalks,
sometimes as much as a foot tall. This is common and conspicuous in wet
meadows and also grows in Europe and Asia.
There are only a few kinds of Dryas, shrubby plants, living in cold and
arctic regions. The Latin name means "wood-nymph."
[Sidenote: =Alpine Avens=
_Drýas octopétala_
=White
Summer
Northwest, etc.=]
This is a charming little plant, from two to five inches tall, forming
low, matted clumps of many branching stems, lying on the ground and
woody at the base, and many stiffish leaves, with prominent veins,
dark green and smooth on the upper side and white with close down on
the under, their dark tones setting off the pure-white flowers, which
have downy flower-stalks and are about an inch across, with about
eight petals, a golden center and the calyx covered with sticky hairs.
The seed-vessels are large and feathery. This grows in alpine places,
across the continent, reaching an altitude of fourteen thousand feet,
and in Europe and Asia.
[Illustration: Silver-weed--Argentina Anserina.