C 316 ] 



POLYGALA CHAM^BUXUS. BoX-L,EAVED 

 MlLK-WoRT. 



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C/^/> tf»i Order. 



DlADELPHIA OCTANDRIA. 



Generic Character. 

 Cat. 5-phyllus: foliolis2majoribus ala?formibus,antematuritatem. 

 ferninis coloratis. Cap/, obcordata, 2-locularis. Sent, folitaria. 



Specific Character and Synonyms. 

 POLYGALA Chamcchuxus floribus fparfis : carinas apice fub- 



rotundo, foliis lanceolatis. Linn. Syjl. Fegetab. 



ed. 14. Murr. p. 639. Ait. Kezv. v. 3. p. 4. 



Jacq. FI. Aufir. v. 3. p. 19. /. 233. 

 CHAM^EBUXUS flore coluteae. Bauh. Pin. 471. 

 ANONYMOS flore Colutea;. Cluf. Hiji. p. 105. /. 

 POLYGALOIDES procumbens foliis duris ovatis nervo 



ariftato. Hall. Hift. ft. 345. 



Clusius, in his Hift. PL rar. gives an accurate defcription 

 and good figure of the prefent plant, before unnoticed (as he 

 obferves) by any author ; it has fince been particularly defcribed 

 by Haller and Jacquin ; the former makes a diitincl genus 

 of it, by the name of Polygaloides. 



It is an elegant little evergreen fhrub of low growth, rarely 

 exceeding a foot in height, with leaves like thofe of box, 

 producing flowers from May to October, but mofl plentifully 

 in May and June ; each flower ftands on a peduncle proceeding 

 from a kind of triphyllous cup, formed of floral leaves, the 

 true calyx is compofed of three leaves, which are nearly white ; 

 the two outermost petals, fimilar to the wings of a papiliona- 

 ceous flower, are alfo white, or nearly fo; the third petal, 

 which forms a kind of tube and contains the eight ftamina with 

 the piflillum, is white at the bafe, but yellow towards the ex- 

 tremity, where it changes by degrees to a bright bay colour : 

 both Clusius and Jacquin obferved a variety of this plant, 

 in which the calyx and wings were of a beautiful purple ; this 

 variety, we believe, has not yet been introduced to this country', 

 the common fort was cultivated in the garden at Oxford, in 1658. 

 Miller defcribes it as a plant difficult of cultivation ; it i s 

 not now regarded as fuch; both Clusius and [acquin de- 

 fcribe it as having creeping roots j fuch plants are generally in- 

 creafed without difficulty, "and fo is this $ planted in bog earth 

 on a fhady border, it thrives extremely well, and fpawns mucn, 

 fo that there is no neceflitv for having recourfe to its feeds. I 1 

 grows fpontaneoufly on the Alps of Auftria and Switzerland. 



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