360 POLYGALACEAE. [Vor.. Il. 
13. Polygala Sénega L. Seneca Snakeroot. Mountain Flax. (Fig. 2285.) 
Polygala Senega \,. Sp. Pl. 704. 1753. 
Glabrous or nearly so, stems several, from woody 
rootstocks, erect or ascending, 6’-12’ high, simple, 
or sparingly branched above. Leaves alternate, 
lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, sessile, 1/-2’ long, 
3//-4’’ wide, serrulate, the lowest much smaller 
and scale-like; spike terminal, short-peduncled, 
dense, acute, 1/-2’ long; flowers 14’” long, white 
or tinged with green; pedicels less than 14’ long; 
wings orbicular-obovate, concave; crest of the 
corolla short, few-lobed; seed hairy, slightly longer 
than the lobes of the caruncle. 
In rocky woods, New Brunswick, western New 
England to Minnesota and the Canadian Rocky 
Mountains, south to North Carolina along the Al- 
leghanies and to Missouri. May-June. 
Polygala Senega latifolia T.& G. Fl. N.A.1:131. 1838. 
Stem taller, often branched above; leaves ovate or 
ovate-oblong, 2'-4' long, acuminate, acute at the base. 
Maryland and Pennsylvania to Tennessee and Mich- 
igan. 
14. Polygala alba Nutt. White Milkwort. 
(Fig. 2286.) 
Polygala alba Nutt. Gen. 2: 87. 1818. 
Polygala Senega var. tenuifolia Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 750. 
1814. Not P. /enutfolia Willd. 1803. 
Glabrous, stems numerous, erect from hard woody root- 
stocks, slender, 6’-15’ high. Leaves alternate, narrowly 
linear, acute, 3//-12/’ long, 14’’-1’’ wide, their margins 
entire and revolute, the lower somewhat broader and 
shorter, clustered; spike terminal, long-peduncled, dense, 
1/-2/ long; flowers 1’/-1%4’” long, white; pedicels less 
than %4/’ long; wings oblong-ovate, slightly concave; 
crest of the corolla short; seeds silky, about twice the 
length of the caruncle-lobes. 
Prairies, Nebraska and Kansas to Texas and Mexico, west 
to New Mexico and Arizona. May-July. 
T= \ 
xt 3B S NY 
sxe > VAS 15. Polygala polygama Walt. 
uh NN i Racemed Milkwort. (Fig. 2287.) 
fi NS oN Polygala polygama Walt. Fl. Car. 179. 1788. 
OF Dy GN Glabrous; stems numerous, simple, 4/—-20/ 
IN y) high, erect from a deep slender biennial root. 
Stem-leaves crowded, oblong or oblanceolate, 
obtuse, mucronulate, 8//-12’’ long, 1//-2/’ 
wide, entire, the lower gradually smaller; 
basal leaves spatulate, sometimes smaller ; 
raceme terminal, loose, 1/-4’ long; pedicels 
N \ \ j spreading or recurved, 1//-2’’ long; flowers 
\N W purple or rose, rarely nearly white, showy, 
\\ \ 2//-3// long; wings broadly obovate; crest of 
the corolla large, laciniate; stamens §; subter- 
ranean branches horizontal, bearing numer- 
ous, nearly sessile cleistogamous flowers; seeds 
hairy, longer than the caruncle-lobes. 
: In dry soil, Nova Scotia to the Lake of the 
- 5 Woods, south to Florida and Texas. Local. 
A) June-July. 
