quinate

Stems slender and decumbent or prostrate, or sometimes erect; pubescence villous, often scanty; leaves ternate, but apparently quinate by the parting of the lateral leaflets; leaflets cuneate-oblong or -obovate, incisely serrate, nearly glabrous above; bractlets entire.—Dry soil; common and variable.

Radical leaves mostly long-petioled, cordate or even rounder, crenately toothed, very rarely lobed or divided; stem-leaves simply ternate or quinate, with the ovate or lanceolate leaflets serrate, incised, or sometimes parted; fruit ovate, 1½´´ long.

It is recognized by its very short quinate leaves and by its nearly sessile cones.

In all these cases the essential point of the method is contained in the repetition, in one way or another, of the numerals of the second quinate, without the use with each one of the word for 5.

Mere repetition in the second quinate of the words used in the first might readily be explained by supposing the use of fingers absolutely indispensable as an aid to counting, and that a certain word would have one meaning when associated with a certain finger of the left hand, and another meaning when associated with one of the fingers of the right.