a, a flower.
Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla), a genus of herb- aceous plants, chiefly natives of temperate and cold climates, of the natural order Rosaceæ, sub-order Sanguisorbæ; having small and numerous flowers, an 8-cleft calyx, no corolla, and the fruit surrounded by the persistent calyx. The name lady's mantle, signifying Mantle of Our Lady—i.e. of the Virgin Mary—is derived from the form of the leaves.—The Common Lady's Mantle (A. vulgaris) is abundant on banks and in pastures throughout Britain. Its root-leaves are large, plaited, many-lobed, and serrated; its flowers, in cymbose terminal clusters, are usually of a yellowish-green colour.—The Alpine Lady's Mantle (A. alpina) grows on Scotch mountains, and has digitate serrated leaves, white and satiny beneath.—A common British plant is the Field Lady's Mantle, or Parsley Piert (A.—or Aphanes-arvensis), found in pastures, an astringent and diuretic, said to be useful in cases of stone in the bladder, by producing a large secretion of lithic acid.