353 



POLYGALACEAE. 



[VOL. II. 



7. Polygala ambigua Nutt. 



Loose-spiked Milkwort. (Fig. 2279.) 



Polygala ambigua Nutt. Gen. 2: 89. 1818. 



Polygala vcrticillata var. ambigua Wood, Bot. 

 & Flor. 80. 1870. 



Resembling the preceding species, but 

 often taller, s'-iS' high, very slender. Lower 

 stem-leaves commonly verticillate, but the 

 others all alternate; spikes long, loose, the 

 lower flowers often quite distant; peduncles 

 often several inches long; flowers rather 

 larger; wings purple or purplish, nearly cir- 

 cular in outline; mature capsule hardly 

 longer than the wings, which are appressed 

 to it; seed hairy. 



In dry soil, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to 

 Georgia, Tennessee and Louisiana. 



8. Polygala incarnata L. Pink Milkwort. 

 (Fig. 2280.) 



Polygala incarnata L. Sp. PI. 701. 1753. 



Erect, glabrous, glaucous, very slender, i-2 high, 

 simple, or sparingly branched. Basal leaves none; stem- 

 leaves distant, linear or subulate, sessile, \"-t>" long, 

 rarely wanting; spike terminal, dense, I'-iJ^' long, 2"- 

 4" thick; pedicels J4" or less long; bracts minute or 

 none; flowers pink or rose, 5 "-6" long; corolla -tube 

 very slender, 3"-4" long, 2-5 times the length of the 

 wings, its keel prominently crested; wings cuspidate: 

 seed hairy, the caruncle-lobes enveloping its beaked 

 extremity. 



In dry soil, southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania to 

 southern Ontario and Wisconsin, south to Florida, Arkansas 

 and Mexico. Summer. 



9. Polygala viridescens L. Field or 

 Purple Milkwort. (Fig. 2281.) 



Polygala viridescens L. Sp. PI. 705. 1753. 

 Polygala sanguinea L. Sp. PI. 705. 1753. 



Erect, 6'- 15' high, glabrous, at length branch- 

 ing above, leafy. Stem somewhat angled; basal 

 leaves none; stem-leaves oblong, or linear-oblong, 

 8"-i5" long, i // -2 // wide, obtuse or acute, mu- 

 cronulate; heads globose, becoming oval, 4"- 

 6" thick, obtuse; pedicels about */*" long; flow- 

 ers rose-purple, greenish, or sometimes white; 

 wings sessile, sometimes slightly cordate, ovate, 

 exceeding the pod; bracts generally persistent 

 on the elongating axis; seed obovoid, hairy, about 

 the length of the caruncle; crest minute. 



In fields and meadows, southern Ontario to east- 

 ern New England, south to North Carolina, west to 

 Minnesota, Arkansas and Louisiana. June-Sept. 

 The contrast between the green-flowered and purple- 

 flowered forms is striking where the two grow 

 together. 



