294 



Order 45.— POLYGALACEtE. 



on tho upper side. Ovary superior, compound, with suspended ovules, united styles 



and stigmas. Fruit a 2-cellod, 2-seeded pod. Seeds pendulous, furnished with a 



earuncle. _„. . ^ 



Genera 20, species 500. The genus Polygala 

 is very generally distributed. The other genera 

 are mostly limited each to a particular quarter 

 of the globe. Properties generally bitter, acrid 

 and astringent, with a milky juice in the root. 

 Khatany-root. the root of Kiameiia. nscd in 

 medicine, yields a deep red color and is used 

 to adulterate port wine. The nunc active 

 species of ['olygala, as I'. Senega, sanguines, 

 purpurea, etc., are emetic, purgative and diu- 

 retic. 



POLiGALA, Tourn. Milkwort. 

 (Gr. TToXvg, much, ydXa, milk ; said 

 to favor the lacteal secretions of 

 animals.) Flowers very irregular. 

 Sepals 5, 2 of them wing-shaped 

 and petaloid ; petals 3, cohering 

 by their claws to the filaments, 

 lower one carinatc and often crested 

 on the back; stamens G or 8, fila- 

 ments united into a split tube; an- 

 thers 1-celled ; capsule obcordate, 

 2-cellcd, 2-seeded, loeulieidal ; seed 

 appendaged with a various caruncle 

 at the hilum. — Bitter herbs in tho 

 U. S. and Can. (elsewhere often 

 shrubby), with simple lvs. Fls. 

 often of two forms, the subterra- 

 nean apetalous. 



Perennial 'No. 1 



Biennial Nos. 2, 8 



Perennial No. 4 



Spike capitate. — Caruncle double Nos. 5, 7 



— Caruncle appears simple. Annual. Nos. f— .10 



— Fls.xanthic. — Spikes solitary, large. Biennial Nos. 11, 12 



— Spikes numerous, corymbed, small. Biennial Nos. I?, 14 



Loaves vcrticillato on tho stem. — Spikes acute, slender.. . . , Nos. 15, 16 



— Spikes obtuse, thick Nos. 17, 18 



1 P. paucifolia L. St. simple, erect, naked below; lvs. ovate, acute, smooth; 

 terminal fls. large, crested, radical ones apetalous. — A small, handsome plant, 

 with a few large (10" long) purplo flowers. Woods and swamps, Brit. Am. to 

 Ga. St. 3 to 4' high, with its acute lvs. mostly near tho top, 2 to 4 flowers above 

 them. Cal of 5 leaves, the upper one gibbous at base. Corolla mostly purple, 

 with a purplo crest on its middle lobe. Tho radical fls. are either close to the 

 ground or subterraneous, smaller, greenish, wanting the wings of the calyx. 

 May. 



2 P. grandiflora Walt. Ascending, pubescent; lvs. ovate-lanceolate to lance- 

 linear, acute; fls. distant, pendulous after blooming, wings large, roundish, cover- 

 ing the corolla and fruit, keel as long as the wings (3"), crestless. — @,? Common in 

 dry soils, S. Car., Ga., Fla. to La. A pretty plant, 9 to 12' high, remarkable for 

 its changeable flowers, rose-colored at first, soon becoming green and drooping, 

 and alone destitute of a crest, having a yellow callosity instead. Lvs. 9 to 15" 

 long, 2 to 4" wide, often nearly glabrous. May — Aug. 



3 P. polygama Walt Sis. simple, numerous, glabrous; lvs. linear oblong, mu- 

 cronate, obtuse ; fls. racemed, short-pediceled, those of the stem winged, those 

 of the root wingless ; keel cristate. — Fields and pastures, Can. to Fla. and La. 

 Sta. crowded, many from the same root, angular, smooth. Lvs. smooth, lower 



polygama. a, the 

 radical flowers. 

 >', paucifolia,/. tho 

 cte.-t on the lower 

 petal. 0, The sta- 

 mens in i sets and the style seen beneath (he hoodod 

 lower petal. fi-0, The ovary and the style. 1. Seed 

 of 1'. Kiinsuinea with its U-lobed caruncle. 2. Seed 

 of P. Nuttallii. 



Leaves alternate. — Fls. purple, solitary, 2 to 4. 

 — Fls. purple, racemed, many. 

 — Fls. white. Spike slender. 

 — Fls. purple. 



