218 DIADELPHIA OCTANDRIA, — Polygala, 
DIADELPHIA OCTANDRIA, 
POLYGALA. Schreb. gen. N. 1154. 
Calyx of five leaves, two of them large and coloured. Le- 
gume obcordate, two-celled. 
1. P. arvensis. Willd. iti. 376. 
Procumbent; root perennial. Leaves linear-lanceolate, 
hairy, Hacemes axillary, solitary ; flowers crested. Seeds 
hairy. 
Hind. Meradoo. 
_ Asmall, procumbent, triennial, or perennial plant, a native 
of pasture lands, Flowers during the rainy season. 
Stem several, diffuse, with their extremities ascending, 
round, a little hairy, about a foot long. Leaves alternate, 
very short-petioled, linear-lanceolate, recurved, margins re- 
volute, a little hairy, from one to twelve inches long, the in- 
ferior leaves are broader and shorter. Racemes solitary, ax- 
illary, or a little above,.as long as the leaves. Bractes three- 
fold, one-flowered. lowers small, orange-coloured., Calyx 
five-leaved, the three exterior ones small, the two interior, or © 
lateral ones, formerly called the wings of the corol, large, all 
are oval and pointed, Banner two-petalled, or they may be 
called wings, and then there will be no banner, sub-erect, 
obovate. Keel bearded. Stamens in one body, dividing into 
eight filaments. Germ obcordate, Style long, projecting, 
thickening. Stigma large, clubbed, incurved, Seeds hairy. — 
2. P. telephioides, Willd. iii, 376, 
Procumbent; /eaves oval, smooth. Racemes scattered be- 
tween the leaves ; flowers crested. Seed very hairy. : 
This species differs from the last i in the following points, 
for the plants are in size and appearance the same, but in this 
the leaves are smooth, and oyal, or at most oblong, the ra- 
cemes are scattered over the branchlets between the leaves, 
and not axillary, and the seeds are very hairy, 
