122 POLYGALACE.E. (M'.LIvWOUT FAMILY.) 



nearly as long as the seed. — Margin of swamps, Maine to Virginia and south- 

 ward near the coast, and along tiie Great Lakes. 



9. P. brevifdlia, Nutt. Rather slender, branched above ; leaves scattered 

 on the liraiuhes, narrower; s/iiLes pidundcd; icinjs lanccolate-orale, jiointkss or 

 J<o.rtli/ mmroitate. — Margin of sandy bogs, Rhode Island ( Olncij), New Jersey, and 

 southward. Too near the last. 



* * Sjiihes slender [itlout 2" tluck), the bracts faUimj ivith the Jhirrrs, which are 

 siiKill, (jrtenish-irhite ur bardij tiii(j(d With purple, the crest of the keel limjer. 



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

 leaves all whorled, those of the branches scattered, linear, acute; spikes pcduncled, 

 dense, acute; ivintjs, round, clawed; the 2-lobcd caruncle half the length of the 

 seed. — Dry soil : common. 



11. P. ambigua, Nutt. Very slender, loosely branched ; lowest stem-le>ives 

 in fours, the rat scattered ; spikes lomppeduncltd, more slender, the flowers often 

 purplish and scattered ; wimjs oval.; caruncle shorter ; otherwise nearly as in 

 No. 10, — of which it is jjrobably a mere variety. — Dry soil, from New York 

 and Pennsylvania southward. 



§ 4. Perennial, with alternate leaves throurjhout, and ichite flowers in a solitary close 

 spike : no subterranean blossoms. 



12. P. S6nega, L. (Seneca Sxakekoot.) Stems several from thick 

 and hard knotty rootstocks, simple (G'-12' high) ; leaves lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, with rough margins ; flowers almost sessile ; wings round-obovatc, 

 concave ; crest short ; caruncle nearly as long as the seed. — Rocky soil, W. 

 New England to Wisconsin and southward. May, June. 



Var. Iatif61ia, Torr. & Gray. Taller, sometimes branched ; leaves ovate 

 or ovate-lanceolate, 2' -4' long, tapering to each end. — Maryland to Kentucky. 



§ 5. Biennials and perennials, ivith shoici/, rose-purple, conspicuoiisli/ crested flowers ; 

 also bearing colorless and inconspicuous more fertile ones, irith imperfect corollas, 

 feitilized in the bud, on subterranean branches. 



13. P. polygama, Walt. Stems numerous from the biennial root, mostly 

 simple, ascending, very leafy (6' to 9' high) ; leaves oblanceolute or oblong, alternate ; 

 terminal raceme many-flowered, the broadly obovate wings longer than the keel ; 

 stamens 8 ; radical flowers racemed on short runners beneath the ground ; lobes 

 of the caruncle 2, scale-like, shorter than the seed. — Dry sandy soil ; common 

 eastward. July. 



14. P. paueifdlia, Willd. Prrwnm/,- flowering stems short (3' -4' high), 

 rising from long and slender jn-ostrate or subterranean shoots, which also bear 

 concealed fertile flowers ; lower leaves small and scale-like, scattered : the upper 

 leaves ovate, petiokd, crowehd at the summit of the stem; flowers 1 -3, large, pe- 

 dunclcd ; wings obovate, rather shorter than the conspicuously fringe-crested 

 keel; stamens 6; caruncle of 2 or 3 awl-shaped lobes longer than the seed; — 

 Woods, in light soil, especially northward, extending southward along the Al- 

 leghanies. May. — A delicate plant, with hirge and very handsome flowers, 9" 

 long, rose-purple, or rarely pure white. Sometimes called Flowering -Winter- 

 green, but more appropriately Fringed Rolygala. 



