1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Potentilla

POTENTILLA (nat. order Rosaceae, q.v.), a border and rock garden plant. Many of the species bear brilliantly coloured flowers and graceful foliage. A soil of a good loamy staple, enriched with rotten dung, will grow the potentilla to perfection. Potentillas may be increased, though not very freely, by parting them into as many pieces as there are crowns, the side growths being those which can usually be thus separated. This may be done in autumn or spring, and the plants will generally bloom the following season. The species and some of the varieties reproduce true from seed, and are readily increased by that means. The following are some of the best kinds: aurea, atrosanguinea, davurica, formosa, nitida, n. atro-rubra, speciosa, tridentata and villosa.