Polygala.] XV. P0LYGALEJ3 (OLIVER). 127 



erect, perennial, branching, showy herb attaining 3-6 ft. in height, glabrous 

 below, minutely pilose or pubescent above. Leaves firmly membranous, as- 

 cending, very shortly petiolate, linear-lanceolate or linear, acute, in the 

 broader forms narrowed to each end, glabrous or pilulose, 2-3 in. long, 

 from T y~i in. broad. Racemes erect, terminal, ample, many-flowered, often 

 6-12 in. long, lf-2£ in. diam. ; bracts and bracteoles persistent or soon 

 deciduous, membranous, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, the former often with 

 a subulate or aristate tip and ± in. in length. Pedicels patent, usually £ in. 

 or under, slender, pilose with spreading hairs. Outer sepals pilose exter- 

 nally. Wing-sepals orbicular, netted from the base with numerous radiating 

 anastomosing nervures, pale or assuming a brilliant crimson, about § in. 

 uiam. Lateral petals sharply and obliquely recurved, oblong, with an auricled 

 loop on the outer margin on passing into the dilated pilose base, shorter than 

 the ample much incurved or galeate keel. Capsule obovate-oblong or broadly 

 obcordate, much shorter than the wings, narrowly alate. 



lower Guinea. Angola, prov. Huilla, Dr. Welwitsch ! 



Mosamb. Distr. Lake Nyassa, Br. Kirk I 



2. P. multiflora, Poir. ; DC. Prod. i. 333 (ex descr.). An erect, ap- 

 parently shrubby plant of probably 2-3 ft., minutely puberulous above, the 

 hairs sometimes collected in faint longitudinal lines, with ascending, firm, 

 flowering branches from the base of the primary, elongate, erect, terminal 

 raceme. Leaves linear, tapering towards the ends, 2-3 in. long, \ in. wide. 

 Racemes at length 9-12 in.; bracts persistent, minute. Pedicels filiform, 

 spreading, equalling or exceeding the outer sepals. Wing-sepals obliquely 

 rotundate, shortly unguiculate, with about 5 looping nerves. Lateral petals 

 broadly elliptical" with a recurved tooth towards the base on the inner side. 

 Capsule elliptic-oblong, retuse, ciliate, not winged. 



Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone ! 

 . ^xcepting that Poiret includes P. multiflora amongst the species characterized by corolla 

 l werbis, our plant agrees very well with his description. His plant, moreover, was from 

 sierra Leone {Commerson). P. Donii, Hook. f. Fl. Nigrit. 222, 1 have not seen, but from 

 « description I think it may be identical with the above. 



3 - P. tenuicaulis, Hook. f. in Journ. Linn. Soc. vii. 182. An erect or 

 ascending, more or less branched annual, the stem minutely pubescent or pu- 

 oerulous, 1-3 ft. in height. Leaves linear, tapering to an acute point or in 

 ar ger-leaved forms rather obtuse, minutely pubescent or glabrate, £-6 in. 

 Jon g, 1-5 lines broad. Flowers reddish, 'in terminal, many-flowered, often 

 father dense, secund racemes. Pedicels equalling the outer sepals, or flowers 

 8 "bsessile ; bracts lanceolate-subulate, persistent, at length spreading or re- 

 jui-ved. Wing-sepals ovate-rotundate or broadly obovate, with 3-5 principal 

 l00 Ping nerves. Lateral petals obliquely ovate or ovate-oblong, entire or 

 *J th a broad depression on the inner side. Capsule quadrate-elliptical to 

 °bovnte-oblong, retuse, ciliolate, rather shorter than the wings, scarcely or 

 not at all winged. 



"PPer Guinea. Camaroons mountain, 7000 ft., Mann, I 

 B J* T - tongifolia. Le ave8 attaining 6 in. Racemes very dense. Nupe and on the Kworra, 



4 - P. sparsiflora, Oliv. A very slender, simple or forked, erect, mi. 



