58 POLYG-ALACE^E. Viola. 



* * * Stems very short, usually clustered, from a deep subterranean rootstock : leaves 

 all divided : flowers yellow ; spur very short. 



11. V. chrysantha, Hook. More or less pubescent with short spreading hairs: 

 leaves bipinnatitid with narrow oblong or linear segments ; stipules lanceolate, 

 entire or toothed : peduncles equalling or exceeding the leaves, 2 to 5 inches long : 

 flowers usually large : petals 5 to 9 lines long, bright yellow, the upper brown- 

 purple on the outside, the others veined, the lateral ones not bearded : stigma 

 slightly hairy below the rounded summit : capsule 5 lines long, acute : seeds large. 

 Ic. PL t. 49; Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechey, 325"; Kellogg, Proc. Calif. Acad. 

 ii. 229, fig. 72. 



In dry soil on low hills from Monterey (Douglas) and Knight's Ferry (Bigelow) to Mendocino 

 Co. (Bolander) and northward ; Snake Country, Tolmie. 



12. V. Beckwithii, Torr. & Gray. Glabrous or pubescent : leaves broadly 

 cordate in outline, 3-parted ; the divisions lobed and cleft into linear or oblong seg- 

 ments : peduncles about equalling the leaves : petals 4 to 7 lines long, very broad, 

 the upper purple, the others yellow with purple veins, the lateral ones bearded and 

 the lower deeply emarginate: stigma lightly bearded at the sides : capsule obtuse. 

 Pacif. E. Rep. ii. 119, t. 1. V. montana, Kellogg, Proc. Calif. Acad. i. 56. 



In the central Sierra Nevada upon both sides of the range, from Alpine Co. (Anderson) to Sierra 

 Co. (Lemmori) : Diamond Mountains, N. Nevada, Beckwith. 



13. V. Sheltonii, Torr. Glabrous or nearly so : leaves as in the last : petals 

 rather smaller, narrower, all yellow, veined with purple, the lateral ones and the 

 stigma glabrous ; lower petal not emarginate. Pacif. E. Eep. iv. 67, t. 2. 



In the northern Sierra Nevada, in Plumas, Sierra, and Nevada counties, Rev. Mr. Shelton, Bige- 

 low, Lemmon, Mrs. Pulsifer Ames. 



ORDER XII. POLYGALACEJE. 



Herbs or shrubs, with simple entire leaves and no stipules, remarkable for the 

 papilionaceous-looking flowers (but of structure unlike the papilionaceous corolla), 

 monadelphous or diadelphous stamens coherent with the petals, and one-celled 

 anthers opening at the top ; an order not closely related to any other, to which is 

 appended the very peculiar genus Krameria. 



1. POLYGALA, Tourn. 



Sepals 5, very unequal, the 2 lateral ones large and petal-like (called wings). Pet- 

 als 3, united to each other and to the stameii-tube, the middle one (or keel) hooded 

 above and often crested or beaked. Stamens 6 to 8, the filaments united below 

 into a split sheath, adnate at base to the petals : anthers 1 -celled, often cupshaped, 

 opening at the apex. Ovary 2-celled : ovules solitary, pendulous, anatropous : 

 style long, curved, dilated above: stigma terminal or apparently lateral. Capsule 

 membranaceous, flattened contrary to the narrow partition, rounded and often notched 

 above, loculicidal at the margin. Seed carunculate at the hilum : embryo large, 

 straight, with thin albumen. Herbaceous or somewhat shrubby ; with simple 

 entire leaves, and racemose or spicate flowers. The Californian species are perennials 

 with a woody base, alternate leaves, and few large flowers in terminal racemes. 



A genus of some 200 species, of the temperate and warmer zones, represented by 30 or more 

 species in the region east of the Rocky Mountains. A bitter principle is common to the genus, 

 of medicinal value in some instances. 



