Polygala.| POLYGALEZ (Harv.) ' 83 
Group 2. Myrtirori#. Much branched, leafy shrubs, with alter- 
nate leaves. Racemes few-flowered, short, lateral or subterminal, 
Flowers large, brilliant purple, amply crested. (Sp. 2-5). 
2. P. myrtifolia (Linn.) ; glabrous or pubescent, shrubby ; leaves 
alternate, petiolate, flat, erect or spreading, dense, either elliptic-oblong, 
obovate, lanceolate or sublinear, obtuse or acute ; racemes few-flowered, 
sessile, subterminal ; pedicels much longer than the bracts ; alee ovate- 
cordate, oblique, mucronulate ; anterior sepals ovate (sometimes sharply 
keeled) ; lateral petals 2-lobed, the posterior lobe ear-shaped and re- 
flexed, anterior acute, deltoid or cuspidate ; capsule obcordate. DC. 
Prod. 1, p. 322. E.§ Z. No. 140-144. . 
Var. a, amoena; leaves elliptic-oblong or obovate, obtuse or sub- 
acute. P. myrtifolaand P. amoena, Thunb. P. grandiflora, Lodd. Cab. 
& 1227. S é oe : 
Var. 8. Natalensis ; villoso-pubescent ; leaves scattered, ovato-lan- 
ceolate, acute at each end and mucronate. Sond. / Linn. 23. p. 14. 
Var. y. Cluytioides ; glabrous or nearly so ; leaves densely set, 
lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acute, mucronate. P. Cluytioides, Burch. 
DC. l. c. P. glauca E.M.! (pro parte) E. & Z.! 143. 
_ Var. 6. ligularis; pubescent ; leaves linear, subacute, tapering to 
the base. P. ligularis, Bot. Reg. t. 637» DC.l.c. Eck. & Zey. ! No. 144. 
ao Common, in mountain gullies from Capetown to Port Natal. (Herb. T.C.D., 
ple flowers at or near the ends of the branches. Leaves very variable in shape, 
mostly tapering to the base ; sometimes very obtuse and even round-topped, some- 
times acute or even acuminate. Among the above varieties, var. 5. ligularis is 
most like a species ; but it runs insensibly into y., which passes by sundry grada- 
tions into a. The characters of var. 8. appear to arise from its having grown in a 
very shady and moist situation. The floral characters are nearly as e as those 
of the leaves ; as above indicated, 
3. P. pinifolia — Ill. t. 598, f 2.) ; shrubby, the branches nearly 
glabrous ; leaves alternate, petit erect, glabrous, linear, the margins 
revolute, the under surface with a central furrow, mucronate, tapering 
at base ; racemes few-flowered, lateral and terminal, sewbsessile ; pedicels 
shorter than the flower ; bracts persistent, blunt ; ale cordate-ovate, 
oblique, obtuse ; lateral petals two-lobed, the posterior lobe blunt, ear- 
shaped, reflexed, the anterior acute and cuspidate. DC. Prod. 1. p. 322. 
Drege! Herb. (not B.&Z) 
: , Zwarteberg, 3-4000ft., Drege / (Herb. T.C.D., Hook., Sond. 
A used eeichod ae RE 2-3 feet high. a anal longer and cinenenah 
in P. teretifolia, and (not truncate) at base. The whole plant is nearly 
glabrous. E. & Z.! conf this plant with P. teretifolia in their joint collec- 
tion ; but the true plant occurs in Zeyher’s recent collection. 
4. P. teretifolia (Thunb. ! prod. p. 120.) ; shrubby, the branches albo- 
tomentose ; leaves alternate, coor & patent, glabrous or downy, linear- 
terete, with revolute margins 
or truncate at base; racemes lateral and terminal, few-flowered, 
sessile ; pedicels shorter than the flower ; bracts persistent, 
a central furrow, mucronate, ee - 
deltoid ; 
A densely branched, well covered shrub, 3-8 feet high, with large, showy, pur 
