PoLYGALA. POLYGALACE^. 151 



to a pretty acute point. Flowers about one line long, greenish-white, and sometimes tinged 

 with purple. Bracts very deciduous. Exterior sepals unequal ; posterior ones ovate, twice 

 as large as ihe other two. Wings a little longer than the corolla. Lateral petals nearly as 

 large as the wings, and somewhat spreading. Style dilated and saccate almost immediately 

 above the ovary : gland inconspicuous, the terminal appendage subulate, with a hairy tuft at 

 the extremity. Seed minute, obovoid, hairy. Lobes of the caruncle somewhat distant, oblong, 

 about half the length of the seed. 



Dry sandy soils, hill-sides and borders of woods ; common. June - October. 



4. PoLYGALA AMBIGUA, Nutt. AmlAguous MUk-lCOft. 



Spikes pedunculate, rather obtuse, dense ; rachis squarrose with the persistent bracts ; 

 wings roundish ; stem erect ; leaves linear, not glandular, the lower ones sometimes verticil- 

 late, the others scattered. — Nutt. gen. 2. p. 89 ; DC. prodr. 1. p. 329 ; Beck, hot. p. 45 ; 

 Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 402 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 130. 



Annual. Stem 6 — 12 inches high, slender, somewhat angular, with erect branches. Leaves 

 6 — 8 lines long and about one line wide, mostly scattered. Spike of nearly uniform diameter, 

 except near the summit, which is rather obtuse than acute, about three-fourths of an inch 

 long. Flowers greenish-white, usually tinged (sometimes pretty strongly) with purple. Seeds 

 as in P. verticillata. 



Dry sandy woods and fields. August - September. 



Nearly related to the preceding species, but pretty constant in its characters. It is dis- 

 tinguished by its shorter and thicker spikes, squarrose rachis, and most commonly scattered 

 leaves which are destitute of glandular dots. In both species, the exterior sepals, the ovary 

 and ihe keel of the corolla are marked with several oblong or linear vesicles, which are filled ' 

 with a yellow farinaceous matter. 



4. PoLYGALA Senega, Linn. Seneca Snake-root. 



Spike rather dense, somewhat acute ; flowers on very short pedicels ; wings orbicular- 

 obovate, concave, rather longer than the obovate petals ; capsule nearly orbicular ; seed some- 

 what hirsute with spreading hairs ; lobes of the caruncle collateral, spongy, nearly as long as 

 the seed ; stems numerous, simple ; leaves lanceolate, scabrous on the margin. — Willd. sp. 

 3. p. 894 ; Bot. mag. t. 1051 ; Bigel. med. hot. 2. p. 97. t. 30, and fl. Bost. p. 265 ; DC. 

 prodr. I. p. 1 30 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1 . p. 85 ; Beck, hot. p. 45 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 403. 

 P. Senega, var. albida, Michx. fl. 2. p 53 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 465. 



Root perennial, thick, rather ligneous, with coarse fibres. Stems about a foot high, as- 

 surgent or somewhat inclined, the base usually invested with small oval scale-like leaves, 

 minutely scabrous-pubescent above, smooth below. Leaves 1-2 inches long and 3-5 lines 

 wide, finely serrulate and fringed under a lens. Spike 1-2 inches long, somewhat inclined. 

 Flowers nearly 2 lines long, greenish-white. Sepals all obtuse. Crest short. Style short. 



/* 

 (* 



