POLYGALA RUBELLA. 
Bitter Polygala. 
— 
PLATE LIV. 
Tus plant is interesting from the curious 
manner in which a part of the fruit is produced, 
by a kind of imperfect flower growing close to, 
and in some instances under, the surface of the 
ground. It is not the only species of the Polygala 
which has this peculiarity. I have often observed 
little shoots at the root of P. paucifolia, one of the 
most beautiful of the genus, bearing apterous 
flowers and subterranean fruit, precisely like 
those represented in our plate. The P. polygama, 
of Walter and Pursh, if, indeed, it is a distinct 
species, has the same remarkable mode of growth. 
It is difficult to imagine what end is attained by 
nature in this singular arrangement, by which a 
part of the seeds are ripened in the sun, while 
the rest, like the fruit of Arachis hypogzea, is 
