98 SOUTH AFRICAN FLOWERING PLANTS. 



i^/M(;crs— Sepals, 5, persistent; petals, 5; stamens, 

 5 ; pistil of 1, 3, or 5 carpels; ovary, one-celled, with 

 1-5 parietal placentas ; flowers sometimes clcistogamous , 

 or self- fertilizing buds. 



Fruit — Capsule. 



Polygalacese. 

 The Milkwort Family. 



This order contains 400 species of 15 genera, of 

 which 4 occur in South Africa. 



Polyg'ala. — The structure of the flower of the Milk- 

 wort, as it is called in England, is very peculiar. It 

 would be best to examine one of the larger flowered 

 species, as P. myrtifo'lia, as many of the forty native 

 species have small blossoms. 



Fig. 36 will supply all the details: There are five 

 sepals, very unequal or irregular in size, as the two 

 lateral ones are much larger than the other three, and 

 usually violet in colour, at least inside (2, h, c). They 

 all remain or are persistent, turning green when the 

 fruit is forming. When sepals do this they assist the 

 leaves in making nourishment, as starch, for the benefit 

 of the fruit and seeds. The five petals very much 

 resemble a pea-blossom, and the corolla has been called 

 i?l^Q\j impilionaceous, as this word is applied to members 

 of the pea family, a word meaning " like a butterfly." 



