SOME PECULIARITIES IDENTIFIED. 213 



A similar embarrassment takes place when the calyx, in its 

 metamorphosis, inclines too visibly in the direction of the 

 corolla. Thus, in the Polygala vulgaris, a little, vivacious, 

 and very abundant plant, the two inner leaflets of the calyx 

 are not only larger than the three other outer leaves, but they 

 are coloured like the petals, and become, towards the close of 

 their flowering time, membranous, herbaceous, and marked 

 with three strong veins : they resemble the wings of a butter- 

 fly, and have been called wings. 



These peculiarities are useful in the distinction of certain 

 species, which, at bottom, are simply varieties. Thus, in the 

 Polygala Austriaca (Polygala amara of Keoch, Polygala uli- 

 ginosa of Reichenbach), a plant with small white or bluish 

 leaves, which is sometimes met with on the borders of peaty 

 swamps, the central vein or ridge of the wings is simple, and 

 never anastomoses with the lateral veins ; while, in the Poly- 

 gala vulgariSy as well as in the Polygala depressa and Polygala 

 amarella, the vein is ramified, and anastomoses more or less 

 widely with the laterals. 



But since we are upon this subject, why should we not seize 

 the opportunity of familiarising ourselves, under the form of a 

 digression, with the little family of the Polygalaceae ? But no ; 

 we will adjourn the episode, since it would cut the thread of 

 our discourse upon the calyx, our calicology. 



Some calices there are, which, by their colouring, approxi- 



