1-0 . i , I'OLYGALACK.K. (mII.KAVORT FAJIILV.) 



1. N. aceroides, IMocnch. (Acer Ncgumlo, L.) Leaflets smoothish 

 when old, very veiny, ovate, jjointeil, toothed ; fruit .smooth, with large rather 

 incurved A>iii^s. — lliver-hnnks. l\'nusylvania to Wisconsin, and southward. 

 April. — A .-niail hut handsome tree, with li<;ht-green twigs, and very delicate 

 drooping clusters of small greenish flowers, rather earlier tiian the leaves. 



Okdi-.k 31. POI.YGALACE.1E. (Milkwout Family.) 



Plants n-ith irregular hijpogynous Jlowcrs, 4-8 dkulclphous or monatlel- 

 phous stamens, their l-celled anthers openiiKj at the top hi/ a pore or chink- ; 

 the fruit a 2-celled and 2-seeded pod. — Kepresented in this country only 

 by the ;^enus 



1. POIjYGALA, Tourn. Milkwort. 



Flower very irregular. Calyx ])ersistent, of .5 se])als, of uliicii ."5 (the iip]ier 

 and the 2 lower) are buiall and often greenish, while the two lateral or inner 

 (called wiiiffs) arc much larger, and colored like the j)etals. Petals .'5, hypogy- 

 iious, connected with each other and with the stamen-tube, the middle (lower) 

 one keel-shaped and often crested on the back. Stamens 6 or 8 : their filaments 

 united below into a split sheath, or into 2 sets, cohering more or less with the 

 petals, free above: anthers l-celled, often cup-shaped, opening by a hole or 

 broad chink at the apex. Ovary 2-celled, with a single anatropous ovule pen- 

 dulous in each cell : style prolonged and curved : stigma various. Fruit a 

 sni.iU, loculicidal 2-see(led pod, usually rounded and notched at the apex, much 

 flattened contrary to the very narrow partition. Seeds with a caruncle, or va- 

 riously shaped aj)pendage, at the liilum. Embryo large, straight, with flat and 

 hroad cotyledons, surrounded by a sparing albumen. — Bitter plants (low herbs 

 in temperate regions), with simple entire often dotted leaves, and no stipules : 

 sometimes (as in the last two species) bearing concealed flowers next the ground, 

 which are fertilii«.'d in the closed bud. (An old name composed of TroXvy, much, 

 and yuKa, milk, from a fancied property of its increasing this seci-etion.) 



§ 1. Biennials or annuals, with alternate leaves, and yellow flowers, which axe dis- 

 2»>s:d to turn greenish in dnjimj: crest of the ktel [lower petal) small : flowerinrj 

 all summiT. 



1. P. lutea, L. Low; flowers [bright orangr-jjcllow) in solitary ovale or ohloiuj 

 heads (:]' thick,) terminating the stem or simple branches ; leaves (1'- 2' long) ob- 

 ovate or spatulate ; lobes of the caruncle nearly as lung as the seed. — Sandy swamps, 

 New Jersey and .southward, near the coast. 



2. P. rambsa, Ell. Flou-ers [citron-yellow) in numerous short and dense spik-e- 

 //7ce racfmes collected in a flat-topped cow/;o«Hf/ cyme; leaves oblong-linear, the 

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

 caruncle. (P. cymosa, Poir., not of Walt. P. corymbosa, Nntt.) — Damp pine- 

 barrens, Delaware and southward. (The allied P. cy.m^sa, Walt., which is 

 P. graminifolia, Pair., P. attenuata, Nntt. and 1*. acutifolia, Torr. cj- Gray, — 

 known by its simpler cymes, stem naked above, narrower leaves, and globu- 

 lar seeds with no caruncle, — may occur in S. Virginia.) 



