682 POLYGALACEAE 



cm. long, open, about as long as the peduncles : pedicels 4-10 mm. long : sepals elliptic or 

 oblong-lanceolate, 2 mm. long, acute : petals purplish, narrowly oblong or oblanceolate, 

 about 1 cm. long, obtuse, spreading : drupes subglobose, 1.5-2 cm. in diameter, yellow, 

 smooth : seeds lobed, very rough, wingless. 



Nearly throughout our range, naturalized from Asia. M. Azedarachumbraculifera Sarg., is the form 

 with a depressed umbrella-like top, it is cultivated and spontaneous in the Gulf States. 



2. SWIETENIA Jacq. 



Tropical American lofty trees, with dark red wood. Leaves alternate, with abruptly 

 pinnate blades : leaflets opposite, the blades leathery, oblique, undulate. Flowers perfect, 

 in axillary or nearly terminal panicles. Sepals 5, imbricated, united to above the middle. 

 Disk annular. Petals 5, contorted, spreading. Staminal tube urn-shaped, 10- toothed : 

 anthers 10, attached below the sinuses of the tube. Ovary ovoid, 5-celled : stigma dis- 

 coid. Ovules numerous in each cavity, pendulous, half-anatropous. Capsule 5-celled, 

 opening septicidally from the base by 5 valves from the 5-angled or 5-winged axis, its 

 valves of 2 layers. Seeds numerous, imbricated in 2 rows in each cavity, each produced 

 into a long membranous wing. Endosperm thin, fleshy. Embryo transverse, with large 

 closely united cotyledons. MAHOGANY. MADEIRA REDWOOD. 



1. Swietenia Mahagoni Jacq. A massive evergreen forest tree, with a maximum 

 height of 25 m. and with a trunk diameter of 3 or 4 m. at the swollen base. Bark sepa- 

 rating in large scales : leaf -blades 1-3 dm. long, petioled : leaflets 4-8, the blades leathery, 

 ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 3-8 cm. long, very inequilateral, acuminate, undulate, acute or 

 rounded at the curved base : panicles 8-15 cm. long, open, about as long as the peduncles : 

 sepals half-orbicular, about 1 mm. long, united below : corolla 8-9 mm. broad : petals 

 pblong-obovate, usually 3-4 mm. long, obtuse, spreading : staminal tube as long as the pistil, 

 its lobes acute or acuminate : capsule ovoid, 6-12 cm. long : seeds 1-1.5 cm. long, the 

 wing about \\ times longer than the body, membranous, red. 



In sand and coral rock, Florida Keys. Also in the West India and Bahama Islands, Central and 

 northern South America. Summer ; fruit ripening in the fall or winter. 



Order 15. POLYGALALES. 



Herbs or shrubs, or trees. Leaves alternate, opposite or whorled, some- 

 times much reduced. Flowers perfect. Perianth of two series. Calyx of 5 or 

 rarely 3 or 4 sepals. Corolla apparently papilionaceous, or regular (TREMAN- 

 DRACEAE). Androecium of 6, 8 or 10 stamens. Filaments distinct or united 

 and sometimes partially adnate to the corolla. Anthers opening by terminal 

 pores or cracks. Gynoecium of 2 united carpels, or rarely more. Style often 

 bent. Ovules mostly solitary in each cavity. Fruit capsular. Seeds usually 

 carunculate and often hairy. 



FAMILY 1. POLYGALACEAE Reichenb. MILK WORT FAMILY. 



Herbs, or rarely shrubs or trees in the tropics, with a watery sap, at least 

 above the roots. Leaves alternate, or opposite or whorled, sometimes scale- 

 like : stipules wanting. Flowers irregular, apparently papilionaceous, variously 

 disposed. Calyx of 5, mostly free, imbricated sepals, the 2 inner petaloid, 

 called wings. Corolla of 5 or often 3 petals ; lower one concave, often beaked or 

 crested, called the keel, more or less united to the others. Androecium of 4 or 

 usually 8 stamens. Filaments usually united into a' tube cleft on the back, 

 rarely free. Anthers innate, becoming 1-celled, opening by terminal pores or 

 cracks. Gynoecium of 2 or rarely 5 united carpels, or apparently 1-carpellary. 

 Ovary 2-celled. Styles united. Stigma curved, dilated or lobed. Ovule solitary, 

 pendulous, anatropous. Fruit mostly capsular, 2-celled. Seeds with or without 

 endosperm, often pubescent, usually caruncled at the hilum. Embryo straight. 



1. POL YG ALA L. 



Herbs or shrubby plants, some species producing racemes of cleistogamons flowers at 

 the base. Leaves alternate, opposite or whorled. Flowers perfect, often showy, often in 

 densely crowded spikes or racemes. Sepals 5, unequal, the two lateral ones petal-like 



