7 es POLYGALEZ (Harv.) [Polygala. 
Group 6. Asprstinz. Small suffrutices, all (except P. Bowkeree) with 
very thick, woody roots, and puberulous. Racemes lateral or terminal. 
Alc greenish, narrower than the capsule. — ; 
26. P. Bowkere (Harv.) ; suffruticose, slender, diffuse, glabrous; 
branches angular ; leaves scattered, linear-lanceolate, flattish, erect, acute 
at both ends, mucronate ; racemes terminal and lateral, lax, erect ; pedi- 
cels as long as the flower ; bracts minute, ovate, subacute, persistent ; 
alze ovate-acute, tapering at base, ant. sepals oblong, obtuse or subacute ; 
keel with a small, multifid crest, lat. petals oblong, sharply and equally 
belobed ; capsule obcordate, broader than the ale. 
Has, Grassy hills and vales, Graaf Reynet, Miss Bowker, (Herb. Hooker.) 
A very slender, slightly branched, elegant little plant, 6-12 inches high. The 
lowest leaves are broader than the rest. Flowers small, 2 lines long; the ale 
greenish and veiny, the keel purple. Racemes 2-4 inches long, very lax. Inter- 
mediate in character between the Asbestine and Virgate Groups. Sent from the 
Cape, several years ago, by Mrs. Barber (formerly Miss Bowker). ; 
27. P. illepida (E. Mey.! in Herb. Drege.) ; root woody ; stems suf- 
fruticose, diffuse or trailing, branched ; the branches striate, minutely 
downy or glabrous, angular ; leaves scattered, linear-lanceolate, acute at 
both ends, mucronate, midribbed ; racemes lateral, few flowered, patent 
or somewhat reflexed ; pedicels clavate, as long as the flower, deflexed ; 
bracts very minute, deciduous ; ale herbaceous, narrow-oval, acute or 
mucronulate ; ant. sepals ovate, acute ; keel with an ample, multifid 
crest, lat. petals broadly spathulate ; capsule obcordate, broader than the 
ale. P.refracta, E.§ Z.! No. 178, (not of Burch.) 
Has. On M i : y i b. 
ite ae 
Stems 3-6 inches high, many from the same root. Whole plant often minutely 
downy. Flowers greenish, inconspicuous. 
28. P. asbestina (Burch. Trav. 1, p. 543); pubescent ; stems woody, 
diffuse or trailing, rigid, much and divaricately branched ; leaves flat, 
petiolate, midribbed, thickish, thinly downy, lower obovate or roundish, 
retuse, upper oblong, tapering to the base, mucronulate ; racemes lateral, 
2-3 flowered ; bracts deciduous ; ale herbaceous, narrow, obliquely 0b- 
long, acuminate, tapering at base, ant. sepals ovate, mucronulate ; keel 
amply crested, lat. petals oblong, obtuse ; capsule deeply notched, wider 
than the ale. DC. Prod.1.p.323. E.&Z.! 184. 
Var. B. i ; all the leaves linear, tapering to the base, with 
oe os ag pering feseiee 
slightly revolute margins and a minute recurved mucro. P. rigens, 
Burch. ! Cat. 1821. DC. Prod. I. p. 323. 
Has. On sandy hills among the Zwarteberge and Winterhoeks Bergen, F. & ZT 
pe ay eldsberg, Beaufort, and in the ets Uitenhage, Drege/ Orange River, 
(Herb. T.C.D., Hook., Sond., Burch 
Stems widely spreading, 6-12 inches long or sae All the prance 
cent. The lower leaves are frequently broad and short ; the u may 
passing from oblong to linear. The flowers are ; the keel flesh smeegent be? 
ala green, and very narrow, almost . Burchell’s P. rigens, . 
ing to an authentic specimen, differs Arrests i to 
be a starved variety. —— ea agartor «cone ae i seems 
