1390 



POLLINATION 



or two other varieties to more than offset the slight 

 inconvenience in ordiard maiiagi-iiient occasioneil l)y 

 this mixing. Tlir dii. f . <Mii,,n]ic ).im1iI, m r,.r tlic experi- 

 menter, there fm.', is ti. .IrtiTlllini' Wll.ll liilllllHTcilll 



varieties may K. |.l:iiii(d liumImi- wnl, li.-t r.-sults; 



S. W. Fletcher. 

 POLYANTHUS. In common speech Polyanthus 

 means tliL- Horists' flowers t-iipposed to be derived 

 chiefly fr.m /•,„-■■ '.';. , ,„• it< nllips. The"Poly- 



antliiis ■, ,,1' : : ,|, > ■ 'i_:.s is one of tlie 



forms- \ / If. I > tiiiiiym of whicli 



was .^ ■ ;" ... .. ., r..:;. .lu: 1, us may also mean 



the tulini/.-L., i'.jli.iuilnjs, ul.u-h sue. There is no genus 



POLYGALA 



tures, however, do not seem to sliow any trace of the 

 latter parent. As known in the trade, i'. Va I main inn a 

 is a free-blooming plant with rosy or purplish flow- 

 ers. H. D. Darlington writes that he haa received 

 it under three or four different names, and adds: "It 

 makes a good pot-plant, but is somewhat hare of foliage. 

 It blooms from the ends of the ripened growth. It can 

 be had in flower almost any time. The odd color and 

 shape of the flowers, and its free blooming, make it 

 very attractive. It roots only fairly well from cuttings. 

 Usually it propagates better by layering. Put in rich 

 loam with well-rotted manure. It will stand consider- 

 able frost." 



POLYBdTRA. .See Acroslh-huni. 

 POLYCALYMMA. See Mu 



nlnllH 



POLYGALA (C^rt-ek, murl, milk : from the old idea 

 that some species increased the flow of milk). Pnhj- 

 yalAcew. Milkwort. Polygala is a genus of over 200 

 widely distributed species. Sepals 5, the two lateral 

 ones, or "wings," much larger than the rest and colored; 

 petals rarely 5 and alternate with the sepals, or com- 

 monly reduced to 3 (an odd anterior one and a dorsal 

 pair), united below into a dorsally cleft tube; lower 

 petal, or keel, concave, often crested or beaked; sta- 

 mens 8; filaments more or less connate into a tube : 

 capsule 2-celled, wing-margined or wingless; seeds soli- 

 tary in the cells. Monographed by Chodat in M(5m. Soc. 

 Phys. Hist. Nat. Genfev. (1, p. 2, No. 2). For the Ameri- 

 can species, see Robinson, Gray's Syn. Fl. Vol. I, p. 449. 



In the culture of Polygalas there are three points of 

 view. There are hardy and tender species, and the 

 latter are sometimes cultivated under glass, sometimes 

 outdoors in the South, as in S. Calif. Of the hardy 

 group, P. pancifolid is excellent, because of its fringed 

 flowers. Of the European kinds P. Chatnwbiixus is the 

 best, and var. purpurea is probably the best form of it. 

 Referring to our native species, F. W. Barclay writes: 

 "Polygalas are mainly plants of low moist lands, and 

 the majority of species are best grown in sandy peat, 

 or any rather light soil, in partially shaded "positions 

 not given to severe dryness at any season. Seed may 

 be sown in fall or early spring. P. lutea is perhaps our 

 handsomest native species, but it is not advertised for 

 sale. It needs sunlight." P. ptiucifolia can be prop. 

 by division. 



There are 40 or more North American species, but 

 most of them are not showy plants and they offer little 

 inducement to the cultivator. Some of them— as re- 

 corded below— are offered by dealers in native plants, 

 but these are not necessarily the best. The only spe- 

 cies that are generally known to cultivators are exotic. 



The Cape species are much-branched shrubs, 2-4 ft. 

 high or more, with large fls. borne in subterminal 

 racemes. In the good old days when heaths were 

 much grown for exhibition 14 colored plates of Polyg- 

 alas appeared in the Botanifa! Al-i^nrirf, Kf in the 



Botanical Cabinet, and 7 in iIm I'.i; i K'rtrister. 



Ernest Braunton writes that " /' <l its va- 



rieties are very commonly cull. ' \ iii.'ularly 



the one known in gardens as 7'. /»■'...- .i /'. /hihnn- 

 tiana; this flowers all the time an<l is very popular." 

 The popularity of P. Dalmaisiana in Calif, is an ex- 

 ample of the persistence of a good thing in gardens, 

 though almost unknown to botanists. This name is not 

 to be found in any of ili'' -i uht.inl :iui Imritirs. fxrept 

 Nicholson's Dictionai\. " .ii h. hi.. ■.Imi 



tised in America. Th- :■ hs ;,, ,i kmki sln.\v.s iliai 



some gardeners have iIhui in i hr muiM- u u'''i.j,'i-:iiilii.-al 

 one. The plant was na.]..^daiUT.M. i>aiiiiais, a Frencli gar- 

 dener, who raised it from seed in 18^9. It was described, 

 with colored plates, in Rev. Hort. 1844:193 and the 

 Florist's Journal 1846:177, and Garten Flora 5:161. In 

 the first-named place it is stated to be a hybrid be- 

 tween "P. grandiflora and P. cordttoUa." In modern 

 nomenclature this probably means P. mi/rtiMiu, var. 

 grandiflora x P. oppositifolia, var. cordatu. The pic- 



ilinllril. 

 diclb-d. 



Habit dwarf, 1 ft. or less hirjli . 



Senega 

 polygama 



myrtifolia 

 virgata 

 apopetala 

 amatymbica 



paucifdlia, Willd. Flowering Winteegreen. Gay- 

 wiNus. Fringed Milkwort. Fringed Polygala. Fig. 

 1875. Trailer, 3-6 in. high: upper Ivs. clustered, ovate, 

 V.i in. long; lower Ivs. distant, small and becoming 

 mere bracts at the base: fls. bright rosy purple, vary- 

 ing to white, 1-4 in the axils of the upper Ivs. or appear- 

 ing terminal. May, June. New Brunswick to Winni- 

 peg, and Ga. Prefers moist woods and sphagnum bogs. 

 B.M. 28.52 (petals white). B.B. 2:361. -Var. Alba was 

 once offered by F. G. Pratt, Concord, Mass., where it 

 grows wild. One sometimes finds violet-fld. forms. 

 The species bears cleistogamous fls. 



Chamsebtixus, Linn. Box-leaved Milkwort. Ever- 

 green trailer: upper Ivs. lanceolate or elliptical, mucro- 



and terminal, ahout 2-fld. : fls. as many as 10 on a stalk, 

 typically yellow, more or less reddish toward the end of 

 the keel; stamens united only at the base. April-June. 

 Europe, low heaths and woods to highest Alps. L.B.C. 

 6:593. B.M. 316 (wings white: petals white at base, 

 yellow or red at tip). — Var. purpirea has purp'le wings, 

 set off by yellow petals. Gn. 13:109; 30:557 (charming; 

 wings rosy pink). 



Senega, Linn. Seneca Snakeroot. Mountain Flax. 

 Height 1 ft. or less: Ivs. 1-2 in. long: fls. white or 

 greenish, 1% lines long; crest small, tew-lobed. May, 

 June. Rocky woods, New Brunswick to Rockies, south 

 N. C. toMo. B.B. 2:360. L.B.C. 14:1380. B.M. 1051.- 

 Bears no underground flowers. 



polygama, Walt. Height 1 ft. or less: Ivs. 1 in. or less 

 Ions;: fls. purple or rose, rarely nearly white, 2-3 lines 

 long; crest relatively large, laoiniate. June, July. Dry 

 soil, Nova Scotia to Lsike of the Woods, south Fla. 

 to Tex. B.B. 2:360. — Bears numerous underground 

 flowers. 



oppositiJdlia, Linn. Probably the only species in the 

 gpiius with opjiosite Ivs.; an abnormal thing in the 

 wliol.- family. 'I'ldl, sleridcT sliruli: racemes few-fld.: 

 lis. lai ;.^i', ]>urj>lisli. S. .\ If. — Harvey gives 8 botanical 

 variuliis, (if wliicli pr"l)alilv tlif commonest in cult, is 

 var. cordita, llarv. (/>. r,.,;iifoh;i, Thunb., not Presl.). 

 Glabrous or downy: Ivs. broadly cordate, acute or acu- 

 minate. For pictures of the species and its vars., see 

 B.M. 492; 2438. B.R. 8:630; 14:1146, and L.B.C. 12:1189 

 (all under various names). 



myrtiJdlia, Linn. Readily told from P. virijatii, its 

 inflorescence being a few-fld., leafy raceme, while that 

 of P. virgata is many-fld. and leafless. Densely- 



