218 DiADELPHiA OCTANDRIA. Pohjgala. 



DIADELPHIA OCTANDRIA. 



POLYGALA. Schreb. gen. N. 1J54. 

 Calyx of five leaves, two of them large and coloured. Le- 

 gume obcordate, two-celled. 



1. P. arvensis. Willd. iii. 376. 



Procumbent ; root perennial. Leaves linear-lanceolate, 

 hairy. Racemes axillary, solitary ;^oicers crested. Seeds 

 hairy. 



Hind. Meradoo. 



A small, 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. Floicers small, orange-coloured. Calyx 

 five-lcave<1, the three exterior ones small, the two interior, or 

 lateral one^, 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; leaves oval, smooth. /?ace»tes scattered be- 

 tween the leaves ; Jioicers crested. Seed very hairy. 



This species differs from the last in the following points, 

 for the plants are in size and appearance the same, but in this 

 the leaves are smooth, and oval, or at most oblong, the ra- 

 cemes are scattered over the branchlets between the leaves, 

 and not axillary, and the seeds are very hairy. 



