294 



ORDER 45. POLY GAL AC EJE. 



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

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



caruncle. 



Genera 20, species 500. The trenus 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. 

 Ehatany-root, the root of Krameria, used in 

 medicine, yields a deep red color and is used 

 to adulterate port wine. The more active 

 species of Polygala, as P. Senega, sanguinea, 

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

 retic. 



POL^GALA, Tourn. MILKWORT. 

 (Gr. TToAt)^, much, yaAa, 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 carinate and often crested 

 on the back ; stamens G or 8, fila- 

 ments united into a split tube ; an- 

 thers 1 -celled ; capsule obcordate, 

 2-celled, 2-seeded, loculicidal ; seed 

 appendaged with a various caruncle 

 at the liilum. Bitter herbs in the 

 U. S. and Can. (elsewhere often 

 shrubby), with simple Ivs. Fls. 



mens in 'I sets and the style seen beneath the hooded /., ft. f xl. i-i 



lower petal. f,,'0, The ovary and the style. ISeed Oltcn OI tWO lOrmS, the SUDtemi- 



or !?= a with its " obed caruncle ' 2 ' Seed nean apetalous. 



Leaves alternate. Fls. purple, solitary, 2 to 4. Perennial -No. 1 



Fls. purple, rncemed, many. Biennial Nos. 2, 3 



Fls. white. Spike slender. Perennial No. 4 



Fls. purple. Spike capitate. Caruncle double Nos. 5, 7 



Caruncle appears simple. Annual. Nos. 8 .10 



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



Spikes numerous, corymbed, small. Biennial Nos. 13, 14 



Leaves verticillate on the stem. Spikes acute, slender Nos. 15, 16 



Spikes obtuse, thick Nos. 17, 18 



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

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

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

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

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

 with a purple crest on ita middle lobe. The radical fls. are either close to the 

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



2 P. grandiflora "Walt. Ascending, pubescent; Ivs. 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. potygama Walt Sis. simple, numerous, glabrous; Ivs. 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 



petal. 



