122 POLYGALACEiE. (MILKWORT FAMILY.) 



deltoid-ovate, slightly heart-shaped , tapering to a bristlij point or rarely point- 

 less; caruncle nearly as long as the seed. — Margin of swamjjs, Maine to 

 Va. and southward near the coast, and west to Minn, and Neb. 



11. P. brevifolia, Nutt. leather slender, branched above; leaves scat- 

 tered on the branches, narrower; spiles ped uncled; ivings hmceolate-oi-ate, 

 pointless or barely mucronate. — Margin of sandy bogs, II. I., N. J., and 

 southward. 



•«- H- Spikes slender (about 2" thick), the bracts falling tvith the flowers, which 

 are snail, greenish-white or barely tinged with purple, the crest of the keel 

 larger. 



12. P. vertieillata, L. Slender (6-10' high), much branched; stem- 

 leaves all whorled, those of the (mostly opposite) branches scattered, linear, 

 acute ; spikes peduncled, usually short and dense, acute ; wings round, clawed ; 

 the 2-l()bed caruncle half the length of the seed. — Dry soil ; common. 



Var. ambigua. Leaves (and branches) all scattered or the loAvest in fours ; 

 spikes long-peduncled, more slender, the flowers often purplish and scattered. 

 (P. ambigua, Nutt.) — N. Y. to Mo., and southward. 

 *- * * * Biennials or annuals, with alternate leaves, and yellow flowers, which 



(ire disposed to turn greenish in drying ; crest small ; flowering all summer. 



13. P. Itltea, L. Tiow; flowers {bright orange-yellow) in solitary ovate or 

 oblong heads (f tliick) terminating the stem or simple branches; leaves (1 -2' 

 long) obovate or spatulate ; lobes of the caruncle nearly as long as the seed. — 

 Sandy swamps, X J and soutliward, near the coast. 



14. P. ramosa, Ell. Flowers (cifron-yellow) in numerous short and dense 

 spike-like racemes collected in a flat-topped compound cyme; leaves oblong- 

 linear, the lowest spatulate or obovate ; seeds ovoid, minutely hairy, twice the 

 length of the caruncle. — Damp pine-barrens, Del. and southward. 



15. P. eymbsa, Walt. Stem short, naked above, the numerous racem&s 

 in a usually nearly simple cyme , leaves narrow, acuminate ; seeds globose, 

 without caruncle. — Del. and southward. 



Order 32. LEGUMINOS^. (Pulse Family.) 



Plani.'i with papilionaceous or sometimes regular flowers^ 10 (rarely 5 and 

 sometimes many) monadclphous, diadelphous, or rarely distinct stamens, and 

 a single simple free pistd, becoming a legume in fruit. Seeds mostly tvith- 

 oui albumen. Leaves alternate., with stipules, usually compound. One of 

 the sepals inferior (i. e. next the bract) ; one of the petals superior (i. c. 

 next the axis of the inflorescence). — A very large order (nearly free 

 from noxious qualities), of which the princij)al representatives in north- 

 ern temperate regions belong to the first of the three suborders it 

 comprises. 



Suborder I. Papilioiiacese. Calyx of 5 sepals, more or less 

 united, often unequally so. Corolla inserted into the base of the calyx, 

 of 5 irregular petals (or very rarely fewer), more or less distinctly papil- 

 ionaceous, i. e. with the upper or odd petal (vexillum or standard) larger 

 than the others and enclosing them in the bud, usually turned backward 



