Poly gala polygaiiia and P. panciflora. 125 



also with the three petals. The anthers dehisce by pores, 

 or more strictly, after Chodat, by short slits. The micro- 

 spores are ellipsoidal, flattish at the ends and traversed by 

 several meridional thickenings, and an equatorial furrow, at 

 some point of which the pollen tube emerges. 



The pistil is composed of two fused carpels, forming a two- 

 celled ovary, with axile or central placenta. The st>'le and 

 stigma present various forms, and the two carpels are often 

 differentiated in this region ; that is, the tip of one is repre- 

 sented by a functional stigma, while that of the other is 

 represented by a variously shaped appendage. 



Each loculus contains a single anatropous ovule. The 

 seeds are frequently hairy and arillate. The embryo is fleshy 

 and embedded in endosperm. 



POLYGALA POLYGAMA. 



The first mention of this plant is its description by Walter 

 in " Flora Caroliniana," as follows : 



P. polygama floris corollatis, in spicis terminalibus, apetalis- 

 in spicis fecundis paulum sub terram pratensis.' 



It is mentioned in De Candolle's " Prodromus," and is 

 described in various Floras with little additional information. 

 Most writers on the subject speak of the cleistogamic flowers 

 as apetalous. Details serving for its identification, and the 

 fact that cleistogamous flowers are borne on subterranean 

 branches are given in the manuals of Wood and Gray. A 

 similar description, together with a figure, may be found in the 

 more recent Flora of Britton and Brown. 



In none of the above works is any mention made of the 

 peculiar type of flower described in the present paper. 



References to P. polygama in literature are scanty. Dr. 

 Britton, Mr. Redfield and others mention it among other 



' Flora Caroliniana, 17S8. 



