122 POLYGALACE^. (MILKWORT FAMILY.) 



deltoid -ovate, slightly heart-shaped , tapering to a bristli/ point or rarely point- 

 less; caruncle nearly as long as the seed. — Margin of swamps, Maine to 

 Va. and southward near the coast, and west to Minn, and Neb. 



11. P. brevifolia, Nutt. Rather slender, branched above; leaves scat- 

 tered on the branches, narrower ; spikes peduncled ; wings lanceolate-ovate, 

 pointless or barely mucronate. — Margin of sandy bogs, K. I., N. J., and 

 southward. 



1- -i- Spikes slender (about 2" thick), the bracts falling with the flowers, which 

 are small, greenish-white or barely tinged with purple, the crest of the keel 

 larger. 



12. P. verticillata, L. Slender (6-10' high), much branched; stem- 

 leaves all \\'horled, those of the (mostly opposite) branches scattered, linear, 

 acute ; spikes peduncled, usually short and dense, acute ; wings round, clawed ; 

 the 2-lobed caruncle half the length of the seed. — Dry soil ; common. 



Var. ambigua. Leaves (and branches) all scattered or the lowest in fours ; 

 spikes long-peduncled, more slender, the flowers often purplish and scattered. 

 (P. ambigua, Nutt.) — N. Y. to Mo., and southward. 

 * * * * Biennials or annuals, with alternate leaves, and yellotv flowers, which 



are disposed to turn greenish in drying ; crest small; flowering all summer. 



13. P. lutea, L. JjOw; flowers (bright oranrje-yellou') in solitary oi^ate or 

 oblong heads (%' thick) terminating the stem or simple branches; leaves (1 -2' 

 long) obovate or spatulate ; lobes of the caruncle nearly as long as the seed. — 

 Sandy swamps, N J and southward, near the coast. 



14. P. ramosa, Ell. Flowers (citron-yellow) in numerous short and dense 

 spike-like racemes collected in a flat-topped compound cyme; leaves oblong- 

 linear, the lowest spatulate or obovate ; seeds ovoid, minutely hairy, twice the 

 length of the caruncle. — Damp pine-barrens, Del. and southward. 



15. P. cymosa, Walt. Stem short, naked above, the numerous racemes 

 in a usually nearly simple cyme ; leaves narrow, acuminate ; seeds globose, 

 without caruncle. — Del. and southward. 



Order 32. LEGUMIXOS^. (Pulse Family.) 



Plants with papilionaceous or sometimes regular flowers., 10 (rarely 5 and 

 sometimes many) monadelphous, diadelphous, or rarely distinct stamens, and 

 a single simple free pistil, becoming a legume in fruit. Seeds mostly icith- 

 out aU)umen. Leaves alternate, with stipules, usually compound. One of 

 the sepals inferior (i. e. next the bract) ; one of the petals superior (i. e. 

 next the axis of the inflorescence). — Avery large order (nearly free 

 from noxious qualities), of which the principal representatives in north- 

 ern temperate regions belong to the first of the three suborders it 

 comprises. 



Suborder I. Papilionacese. Calyx of 5 sepals, more or less 

 united, often unequally so. Corolla inserted into the base of the calyx, 

 of 5 irregular petals (or very rarely fewer), more or less distinctly papil- 

 ionaceous, i. e. with the upper or odd petal (vexillum or standard) larger 

 than the others and enclosing them in the bud, usually turned backward 



