Pofygala.'] Polygalacece. 8 1 



A small, perennial herb, with numerous, wiry, slightly- 

 branched, pubescent, prostrate stems spreading from a centre ; 

 1. numerous, \ in., nearly sessile, lanceolate-oblong, mucronate, 

 glabrous ; fl. small, few, in short racemes scarcely exceeding 

 the 1.; outer sep. oval, acute, wings ovate, very acute, slightly 

 exceeding the glabrous or ciliate capsule. 

 Var. jt3. triflora. 



Fl. Zeyl. n. 269. P. triflora, L. Sp. PI. 705. P. arvensis, Willd., 

 var. /3. Thw. Enum. 400. C. P. 1083. 



Branches more erect ; 1. longer, linear, more strongly 

 mucronate ; fl. rather larger. 



Var. y. hirsutula. 



P. hirsutula, Arn. Pug. 4. P. elongata, Klein, var. /S., Thw. Enum. 22. 

 C. P. 1081. 



Often woody below, branches very numerous, prostrate ; 

 1. oval or lanceolate, usually pubescent on both sides ; fl. 

 larger, f in., in long-stalked, divaricate, 1-4-flowered racemes 

 usually much exceeding the 1. ; capsule \ in. wide, finely 

 ciliate ; seed black, sparingly hairy, aril divided to the base 

 into 4 narrow lobes nearly as long as the seed. 



Grassy open places ; common. Vars. a. and ^. in the low country, 

 var. y. on the montane patanas 4-7000 ft. Fl. all the year ; white. 

 Var. y. often pale violet, crest purple. 



Endemic (?). 



Linneeus' triflora is placed under P. chinensis in Fl. B. Ind. I follow 

 that work in placing P. hirsutula as a variety here, but should prefer to 

 consider it as a distinct species. 



\P. elongata, Klein, given for ' Ceylon, Walker ' in Fl. B. Ind. i. 204, 

 must be considered very doubtful. There is a strong suspicion that the 

 specimens (in Herb. Kew) came from the Himalaya.] 



5. P. chinensis, L. Sp. PL 704 (1753). 



P. arvensis var c, Thw. Enum. 400. C. P. 3674. 



Fl. B. Ind. i. 204. 



Annual or perennial (?), with many short, prostrate stems 

 with long, scattered hairs ; 1. small, ^-f in., nearly sessile, 

 obovate-oblong or obovate, obtuse, apiculate, with a few long 

 hairs beneath and on margin ; fl. small, in slender racemes, 

 I in. long ; outer sep. lanceolate, acuminate, wings oval, 

 oblique, cuspidate, longer than the broadly oblong, notched, 

 ciliate capsule. 



Low country, in sandy places; common (?). Colombo (Ferguson); 

 Trincomalie (Glenie). 



Throughout tropical Asia and Australia. 



This is not readily to be distinguished from the last, and is connected 

 with it by intermediates. I have not noted its distribution. 



G 



