POLYGALACE^. (MILKWORT FAMILY.) 89 



1. POLYGALA, L. Milkwort. 



Sepals 5, persistent, unequal ; the two lateral ones (ivings) larger and petal- 

 like. Petals 3, more or less united ; the middle one (keel) larger, and usually 

 crested at the apex. Stamens 8, rarely 6, united into a tube, or into two equal 

 sets, and also with the claws of the petals. Style curved, clavate. Stigma 

 terminal or lateral. Capsule 2-celled, 2-seeded. Seeds suspended, caruncu- 

 late. — Chiefly herbs. Leaves alternate or whorled. Flowers in terminal 

 spikes or racemes, rarely axillary, or radical and incomplete. 



§ 1. Flowers in globose or oblo7i(j more or less compact spikes. 

 Spikes corymbose : biennials. 



1 . P. cymosa, Walt. Stem tall, simple ; leaves scattered, linear, acute, 

 the upper bract-like, the lowest long (6' -9') and crowded; corymbs simple 

 or compound ; wings oblong, abruptly acute ; seeds minute, globose-obovate, 

 smooth ; caruncle none. — Pine barren ponds. July. — Stems 2° - 4° high. 

 Flowers yellow. 



2. P. ramosa, Ell. Stem low, simple, or branching and leafy from the 

 base to the summit ; leaves fleshy, lanceolate, acute, scattered, the lowest sjjatu- 

 late-obovate, obtuse, crowded ; corymbs compound, fastigiate ; wings ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminate ; lobes of the caruncle small, roundish, embracing the 

 base of the minute oval hairy seed. — Low open pine barrens. July -Sept. 



— Stems 6'- 12' high. Flowers yellow. 



3. P. Baldwinii, Nutt. Stem angled, simple ; leaves lanceolate, acute, 

 the lowest spatulate ; corymbs compound ; spikes dense ; wings ovate-lance- 

 olate, tapering into a long and slender point ; seeds very small, globose, hairy ; 

 caruncle minute. — Low pine barrens near the coast, Georgia, and westward. 

 July -August. — Stem 1°-!^° h'gli- Leaves i'-l' long. Flowers white, 

 fragrant. 



* * Spikes solitary/ : leaves alternate. 



•t- Flowers yellow : biennials. 



4. P. lutea, L. (Yellow Bachelor's-Button.) Stem simple or with 

 spreading branches ; leaves lanceolate, acute, the lowest clustered, spatulate- 

 obovate, obtuse ; spikes dense, globose or oblong ; wings elliptical, abruptly 

 pointed ; lobes of the caruncle nearly as long as the obovate sparse-hairy seed. 



— Low pine barrens. June -August. — Stem 6' -12' high. Flowers orange- 

 yellow. 



• 5. P. nana, DC. Low; stems divided at the base into several short 

 peduncle-like branches ; leaves chiefly radical, clustered, spatulate or linear, 

 obtuse ; spikes thick, at length cylindrical, the earliest ones sessile ; wings 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminate ; lobes of the caruncle half as long as the obovate 

 hairy seed. — Low sandy pine barrens, flowering throughout the year. — 

 Stems 2' -4' high. Spikes V-2' long. 



6. P. Rugelii, Shuttlw. Stem mostly branching; leaves alternate, 

 lanceolate, acute, sessOe, the lowest ones clustered and narrowed into a peti- 

 ole ; spikes globose; wings oblong-obovate, cuspidate; seeds and caruncle 

 as in No. 4. — Flat pine barrens. East Florida. May - August. — Stem 1° - 2'^ 

 hio-h. 



