POLYGALACE^E. (MILKWORT FAMILY.) 121 



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

 or ovate-lanceolate, 2-4' long, tapering to each end. Md. to Mich, and Ky. 



4. P, alba, Nutt. Stems several from a hard rootstock, 1 high ; leaves 

 narrowly linear, 3 - 12" long, acute ; wings oblong-obovate ; crest small; lobes 

 of the caruncle half the length of the appressed-silky seed. Neb. and Kan. 

 to Tex. 



# * Annuals, with all the leaves alternate ; flowers in terminal spikes, heads or 



racemes, purple or rose-color, in summer ; none subterranean. 



.- Keel conspicuously crested ; claws of the true petals united into a long and 



slender cleft tube muck surpassing the wings. 



5. P. incarnata, L. Glaucous ; stem slender, sparingly branched ; leaves 

 minute and linear-awl-shaped ; spike cylindrical ; flowers flesh-color ; caruncle 

 longer than the narrow stalk of the hairy seed. Dry soil, Penn. to Wise., 

 Iowa, Neb., and southward ; rather rare. 



<- -i- Keel minutely or inconspicuously crested; the true petals not longer but 

 mostly shorter than the wings ; seed pear-shaped. 



6. P. sanguinea, L. Stem sparingly branched above, leafy to the top ; 

 leaves oblong-linear ; heads globular, at length oblong, very dense (4-5" thick), 

 bright red-purple (rarely paler or even white) ; pedicels scarcely any ; wings 

 broadly ovate, closely sessile, longer than the pod; the 2-parted caruncle almost 

 equalling the seed. Sandy and moist ground; common. 



7. P. fastigiata, Nutt. Stem slender, at length corymbosely branched; 

 leaves narrowly linear, acute, 3-8" long; spikes short and dense (3" in diam- 

 eter) ; the small rose-purple flowers on pedicels of about the length of the pod ; 

 wings obovate- or oval-oblong, narrowed at the base, scarcely exceeding the 

 pod ; bracts deciduous with the flowers or fruits , caruncle as long as and nearly 

 enveloping the stalk-like base of the minutely hairy seed. Pine barrens of 

 N. J. and Del. to Ky., and southward. 



8. P. Nuttallii, Torr. & Gray. Resembles the last, but usually lower ; 

 spikes cylindrical, narrow ; flowers dull*er or greenish purple, on very short 

 pedicels ; the awl-shaped scaly bracts persistent on the axis after the flowers or 

 fruits fall ; seed very hairy, the caruncle smaller. Dry sandy soil, coast of 

 Mass, to Mo., and southward. Spike sometimes rather loose. 



9. P. Curtissii, Gray. Slender (9' high) , leaves, etc., as in the two pre- 

 ceding , flowers rose-purple, in usually short racemes ; pedicels about equalling 

 or exceeding the persistent bracts; the narrow oblong erect wings fully twice the 

 length of the pod : caruncle small, on one side of the stalk-like base of the very 

 hairy seed, which is conspicuously apiculateat the broader end. Md. to Ga. 

 The species was founded upon an abnormal form with elongated racemes and 

 pedicels. 



* * * Annuals with at least the lower stem-leaves whorled In fours, sometimes in 

 fives ; spikes terminating the stem and branches ; fl. summer and autumn. 



- Spikes short and thick (4-9" in diameter) ; bracts persisting after the fall of 

 the (middle-sized) rose or greenish purple flowers ; crest small. 



10. P. cruciata, L. Stems (3-10' high) almost winged at the angles, 

 with spreading opposite branches ; leaves nearly all in fours, linear and some- 

 what spatulate or oblanceolate ; spikes sessile or nearly so; wings broadly 



