2S POLYGALACE^. 



Polygala rosmarinifolia Wight and Arnott ; F.B.I. 

 204, I 13 ; Rosemary Milkwort. An erect or spreading, 

 well-branched annual, 2 to 18 inches high. Stem very 

 slender throughout, but rigid, pubescent. Leaves J^ to 

 I by /^ to ^ inch, narrow linear, erect on the branches, 

 with thickened and recurved margins and strong midrib ; 

 but not coriaceous or with the hard apex of P. sibirica. 

 Flowers greenish, solitary or in short racemes in the leaf- 

 axils, erect, MtoVe inch long. Bracteoles minute, at the 

 base of "the pedicel and close against the equally small 

 bract or the subtending leaf. Wings obliquely ovate. 

 Petals rounded : keel with distinctly stalked fringe 

 below the notched end. Pod elliptic, notched at the top, 

 elsewhere with a narrow purple margin. Seeds two, 

 black, covered with short hairs and capped by a large 

 white aril with two short extensions round the scar. 

 t. 22. 



Pulneys : from Shembaganur 5,500 feet upwards. Bourne 

 306, 709. Nilgiris (H. ^ Z"., Hohenacher), 



Gen. Dist. Southern hills of the western Peninsula and Ceylon. 



Polygala sibirica Linn., var. heyneana (not Wallich 

 4184!); F.B.I, i 205, I 14; Common Milkwort. A small 

 plant with numerous stems 1/16 inch or less in thickness 

 and four to many inches long, trailing on the ground 

 from a thick perennial rootstock. Leaves nearly 

 sessile, /^ to I inch long and usually not more than 

 % inch wide, elliptic or oblong, with recurved margins 

 and only one strong vein (midrib) ending in a short 

 recurved point; but when dry marked on the upper 

 side with a fine raised network quite characteristic 

 in containing no straight veins. Flowers in short erect 

 racemes, or occasionally solitary, in the upper leaf-axils ; 

 pinkish-mauve or purple. Bracteoles minute, at the base 

 of the pedicel and near the equally small bract or the 



