89 
POLYGALACEJE. (MILKWORT FAMILY.) 
in diameter; the flowers light purple and greenish, duller-colored 
than in the last, with thicker wings on shorter claws; and the nar¬ 
row caruncle not longer than the stalk-like base of the pear-shaped 
seed. 
■*“■*" Leaves, at least the lower, in whorls: floicerspurple or whitish. 
cruciata, L. Low, with spreading opposite branches; 
leaves nearly all in whorls of four (rarely of five), linear and some¬ 
what spatulate or oblanceolate ; spikes sessile or nearly so , dense, ob¬ 
long becoming cylindrical; bracts persistent; wings broadly deltoid- 
ovate, slightly heart-shaped, tapering to a bristly point; caruncle nearly 
as long as the seed. — Margin of swamps, Maine to Michigan, but 
rare northward, common southward near the coast. Aug. - Sept. — 
Stems 4' - 10' high, with almost winged angles. Spikes fully £' in 
diameter : flowers greenish-white, mostly tinged with purple. 
brevifolia, Nutt. Rather slender, branched above; 
leaves in whorls of four, or scattered on the branches, narrowly spat- 
ulate-oblong ; spikes peduncled , oblong, rather loose; icings lanceolate- 
ovate, pointless or barely mucronate. — Margin of sandy bogs, New 
Jersey. Rhode Island, Olney. Sept. — Closely allied to the last, of 
which it is possibly only a marked variety. Wings purple-rose-color 
throughout. 
9. P. verticillata, L. Slender, much branched; stem-leaves 
in whorls of four or five, those of the branches scattered, linear, acute ; 
spikes peduncled, dense, acute, elongated; bracts falling with the 
flowers; wings round, clawed; the 2-lobed caruncle half the length 
of the seed. — Dry soil, common. June - Oct. — Stems 6'-10' high, 
with long erect branches. Spike slender; the small flowers green¬ 
ish-white, or sometimes tinged with purple: crest rather large in 
proportion. 
10. P. a ill!) f glia, Nutt. Very slender, loosely branched; low- 
PSt ' s t™i-leaves in whorls of four, the rest scattered , narrowly linear; 
spikes long-peduncled, very slender, the flowers often scattered ; wings 
oval; caruncle shorter; otherwise nearly as in No. 9. — Dry woods, 
New Jersey southward and westward. More slender in all its parts 
than the last, with a looser spike. 
* * * Perennial: flowers white, spiked ; no subterranean ones. 
IL P* Senega, L. (Seneca Snake-root.) Stems several 
from a thick and hard knotty root, simple; leaves lanceolate, with 
rough margins, alternate ; spike cylindrical, the flowers on extremely 
short pedicels ; wings round-obovate, concave ; crest short; caruncle 
nearly as long as the seed. — Rocky woods, W. New England west¬ 
ward. May, June. — Stems nearly 1° high: spike l'-2' long.— 
here is a variety in the Western States with nearly ovate taper- 
pointed leaves. 
8 
