POLYGALACEJE. 



Root slender, almost insipid. Lower leaves large, rosulate, obovate; 

 upper cauline acute. Flowers numerous, blue or white. Lateral 

 sepals cuneate, elliptical, about as long as the fringed corolla. Capsule 

 obcordate, oblong, longer and broader than the sepals, distinctly nar- 

 rowed to the base. Rchb. — Whole plant bitter. It is much extolled 

 by Van Swieten and others in pulmonary complaints and spitting of 

 blood. 



250. P. rubella Muhlb. cat. Willd sp. pi. iii. 875. Bigelow 

 med. hot. iii. t. 54. — P. polygama Walt. ft,, car. 179. — Dry, 

 sandy, gravelly soils in many parts of the United States. 



Root somewhat fusiform, perennial, branching. Leaves, smooth, the 

 lower obovate, smaller ; the upper linear-lanceolate, obtuse, mucronated, 

 sessile. Flowers purple, short-crested, in terminal racemes. Bracts 

 small, ovate-lanceolate, caducous. Wings of the calyx rhomboid-oval, 

 obtuse, with a slight middle nerve. Corolla small, closed, of three 

 segments, the middle one largest and crested by the division of its sides 

 and extremity. Anthers 8, forming a double row, the filaments coal- 

 escing. Ovary compressed, inversely heart-shaped ; style deflexed ; 

 stigma bearded inside, with a prominence below it. Capsule inversely 

 heart-shaped, nearly smooth, margined, and invested with the wings of 

 the calyx. Seeds 2, obovate, hairy, with a transparent appendage or 

 strophiole on the inside. From the base of the stems proceed a 

 number of prostrate shoots situated upon, and sometimes nearly 

 under the ground, bearing a row of incomplete fertile flowers. These 

 flowers are furnished with a calyx without wings, acuminate corolla 

 and stamens, and a short style. The ovary and fruit precisely 

 resemble those of the more perlect flowers. Bigelow. — A strong bitter 

 taste pervades all the parts. In small doses its infusion is found useful 

 as a tonic, and stimulant to the digestive organs. In large doses it 

 opens the body and excites diaphoresis. 



251. P. sanguinea Linn. sp. 991. — A supposed antidote to 

 the bite of poisonous reptiles. 



252. P. Poaya Mart. spec. mat. med. bras. t. 2. and t. 8. f. 6. 

 Aug. de St. H. pi. us. No. 71./. bras. ii. 20. — Brazil ; common 

 in the plains of Minas Geraes and Goyaz. 



Stem suffruticose, 5-angled. Leaves leathery, 5-nerved. Racemes 

 spicate. Wings of the calyx oblong-elliptical or obovate, obtuse, some- 

 what longer than the keel. Corolla crested. Seeds clavate, very 

 shaggy. — An active emetic ; its root used successfully in the bilious 

 fevers of Brazil ; when fresh, scarcely inferior to Ipecacuanha Martin?. 



253. P. crotalarioides DC.prodr. i. 327. — Nepal. 



Stem branched from the base, suffruticose, decumbent, downy. 

 Leaves obovate-wedgeshaped at the base, stalked. Racemes 8-10, 

 flowered. Wings roundish-obovate, as long as the orbicular ciliated 

 capsule. — A reputed cure for the bite of venomous reptiles. 



254. P. Chamsebuxus Linn. sp. 989 has properties similar to 

 those of P. Senega. 



255. P.venenosa Juss. in Poir. diet. v. 493. is said by Commer- 



126 



