Polygala polygama and P. paucifiora. 125 
Now, whereas the plant is described and figured as having 
simply two types of flower—conspicuous pink-purple ones 
borne in nearly upright racemes, and minute, subterranean 
cleistogamic ones, it bears later, on aérial shoots, an abundant 
crop of green cleistogamic flowers, that are larger than the 
underground ones. The branches bearing these tend to turn 
downward ; so that a plant in August shows many, perhaps 
nearly all of the shoots becoming positively geotropic, and 
the foliage is mingled with masses of green cleistogamic 
flowers (Plate XVI). 
We may now consider the various types of flower found in 
this species, and later study the structural details of each. 
(1) THE CHAsMOGAMIC OR CONSPICUOUS FLOWERS. 
These develop in long terminal racemes, are pink-purple in 
color, and so are very noticeable among the low, flowering 
herbs of summer. At Wood’s Holl they appear first about 
June 20, and continue to bloom in favorable seasons till about 
the middle of August. The petaloid sepals are persistent, 
and give to the maturing fruits at a distance the impression of 
being still in flower. However, only two, or at most three, 
flowers of each raceme are actually expanded at one time. 
By marking flowers of many plants with threads it was found 
that a new bud generally opens each day. 
Large numbers of them fail to set seed, so that later in the 
season one finds to a large extent only the naked axes of 
these racemes, or rows of seedless capsules. 
When seeds do mature properly from them, the length of 
time required for full maturation is about five weeks. 
(2) THE SUBTERRANEAN CLEISTOGAMIC FLOWERS. 
At the same time that the first pink buds of the chasmo- 
gamic flowers become visible, one may find by digging, nume- 
rous pale branches arising from the base of the stem-and grow- 
