372 



POL 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



POL 



five-petalled. Seed: solitary. Receptacle: producing suc- 

 culent aggregate scales, sustaining the fruit. The only 



known species is, 



1 . Pollichia Campestris ; Whorl-leaved Pollichia. Root 

 fibrous, biennial ; stems several, inclined, round, invested 

 with a thin white down, branched, leafy ; branches mostly 

 alternate, erect, leafy, many-flowered; leaves in whorls six 

 together, of which the two outermost are, generally speaking, 

 the largest, except in the lower part of the stem ; flowers in 

 sessile, opposite, axillary clusters, at almost every whorl of 

 the branches, numerous, small, green ; fruit a larger head of 

 crowded, juicy, sweet, pearly-white scales, each supporting 

 a brown cali-x, containing one seed. It flowers in September. 

 Native of the Cape. 



Polyanthus Narcissus. See Narcissus Tazetta. 



Polycardia; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: very small, five- 

 lobed. Corolla: petals five, rounded. Stamina: filamenta 

 five, very short; antherae roundish. Pistil: germen broad ; 

 style one ; stigma notched. Pericarp : capsule coriaceous, 

 five-celled, five-valved, (sometimes three or four celled, three 

 or four valved ;) valves septiferous in the middle; partitions 

 seminiferous on each sids at the base. Seeds : few, oblong, 

 half-arilled at the hilum ; aril calix-form, laciniated. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Petals: five, rounded. Stigma : notched. 



Capsule: five-celled, five-valved. Seeds: arilled. The 



only known species is, 



1. Polycardia Madagascarensis. This is a singular shrub, 

 approaching in habit to Xylophylla and Phyllanthus. Leaves 

 alternate, petioled; the barren ones lanceolate, acute, or 

 obtuse, veined, quite entire ; the fertile or floriferous ones 

 quite entire, obcordate, wedge-form at the base ; flowers 

 three or four on the top of the fertile leaf, at the end of the 

 midrib. Native of Madagascar. 



Polycarpon; a genus of the class Triandria, order Tri- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth five- 

 leaved; leaflets ovate, concave, keeled, mucronate, perma- 

 nent. Corolla,: petals five, very short, ovate, emarginate, 

 alternate, permanent. Stamina: filamenta three, filiform, 

 shorter by half than the calix; antherse roundish. Pistil: 

 germen ovate; styles three, very short; stigmas blunt. 

 Pericarp: capsule ovate, one-celled, three-valved. Seeds: 

 very many, ovate. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five- 

 leaved. Petals: five, ovate, very small. Capsule: one- 

 celled, three-valved. Seeds : very many. The only known 



species is, 



1. Polycarpon Tetraphyllum ; Four-leaved A ll-seed. Stem 

 very much branched, diffused, divaricating; leaves opposite, 

 or in fours, obovate, quite entire, somewhat fleshy, smooth ; 

 stipules and bractes acuminate, scariose, white ; panicles 

 terminating, dichotomous; flowers numerous, small, inodor- 

 ous ; calix green, edged with white ; petals white. This 

 common weed is annual, and flowers from May to August, 

 and even in winter. Native of many parts of Europe, in a 

 dry soil ; as, in Germany, the south of France, Istria, Italy, 

 and Barbary ; in England, on the coasts of Devon and 

 Dorset; about Lymston, near Exeter; close to the shingle 

 beach on the neck of the island, and about Exmouth in 

 Devonshire. 



Polycnemum ; a genus of the class Triandria, order Mo- 

 nogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five- 

 leaved ; leaflets ovate, erect, mucronate, permanent. Corolla: 

 none. Stamina: filamenta two or three, capillary, shorter 

 than the calix ; antherue two-iobcd. Pistil: germen round- 

 ish ; style very short, two-parted ; stigmas obtuse. Pericarp: 

 capsule ovate, with the top ftaUish and margined, acumi- 



nate, with the permanent style, membranaceous, thin, valve- 

 less, not opening. Seed: single, kidney-form. Observe. 

 Most of the species have two bractes under the calix, and 

 which are taken by some for the calix, and the calix for the 

 corolla. Other species have two, three, or four calicine 

 leaflets. The stamina are generally one, two, three, or five 

 inn-umber; the style is also sometimes double. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Calix: five-leaved. Corolla: none. Style: 

 divided. Capsule: membranous, not bursting. Seed : one, 

 almost naked. The species are, 



1. Polycnemum Monandrum ; One-stamined Polycnemum. 

 Monandrous: leaves linear, acute; stem erect. Perennial. 

 Native of Siberia, on a dry saltish soil. 



2. Polycnemum Selerospermnm. Diandrous: leaves cylin- 

 dric, fleshy ; stem erect, branched. Annual. Found in the 

 muddy salt soils of Siberia. 



3. Polycnemum Arvense; Trailing Polycnemum. Tiian- 

 drous : leaves awl-shaped, three-sided ; stem diffused. A 

 small annual herb ; branches procumbent, simple, or subdi- 

 vided, striated, somewhat hairy, knobbed, with a callus at 

 the inside of the base ; flowers axillary, sessile, solitary, 

 whitish. Gaertner commends Adanson for having united this 

 genus with Camphorosma, the number of parts in the flowers 

 being so various, as the observations of Pallas have abun- 

 dantly shewn. It flowers in July. Native of France, Italy, 

 Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, in corn-fields. 



4. Polycnemum Salsum ; Triandrous Polycnemum. Tri- 

 androus : leaves filiform, fleshy, sheathing ; stem diffused. 

 Perennial. Found in the wet salt sands of Siberia. 



5. Polycnemum Oppositifolium ; Opposite-leaved Polycne- 

 mum. Pentandrous : leaves opposite, fleshy, cylindrical ; 

 stem erect. Annual. This was discovered in the salt marshes 

 near the Caspian Sea. 



Polygala ; a genus of the class Diadelphia, order Octan- 

 dria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five-leaved, 

 small ; leaflets ovate, acute ; two below the corolla, one 

 above that, and two in the middle, subovate, flat, very large, 

 coloured like wings, permanent. Corolla : subpapiliona- 

 ceous ; standard almost cylindrical, tubular, short, with a 

 small reflex mouth, bifid ; keel concave, compressed, ven- 

 tricose towards the tip ; appendix of the keel in most of the 

 species two or three parted ; pencil-shaped bodies fastened 

 to the keel towards the tip. Stamina.: filamenta eight, in two 

 sets, connected, enclosed within the keel ; antherae eight, 

 simple. Pistil: germen oblong ; style simple, erect ; stigma 

 terminating-, thickish, bifid. Pericarp: capsule obcordate, 

 compressed, with an acute margin, two-celled, two-valved ; 

 partition contrary to the valves, opening at each margin. 

 Seeds: solitary, ovate; Gaertner says, with a glandular umbi- 

 licus. Observe. The appendix to the keel is different in the 

 different species; and in many the pencil-shaped appendix 

 is wanting; and they are therefore called beardless. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-leaved, with two of the 

 leaves shaped like wings, and coloured. Capsule: obcordate, 

 two-celled. The species are, 



* Crested : the flowers having a pencil-shaped appendix. 



1. Polygala Incarnata; Flesh-coloured Milkwort. Flowfrs 

 in spikes; stem herbaceous, branched, erect; leaves alternate, 

 awl-shapd ; root annual ; branches commonly three, in the 

 upper axils long, narrow; leaves flat, very sharp, remote, 

 scarcely eight for the most part upon the stem. Native of 

 Virginia and Canada. 



2. Polygala Aspalatha. Flowers in heads ; stems quite 

 simple ; leaves bristle-shaped, scattered ; corolla white, with 

 lanceolate wings, and a pencilled keel. It appears like an 

 Aspalathus. Native of Brazil. 



