360 



POLYGALACEAE. 



[VOL. II. 



13. Polygala Senega L. Seneca Snakeroot. Mountain Flax. (Fig. 2285.) 



Polygala Senega L. Sp. PI. 704. 1753. 



Glabrous or nearly so, stems several, from woody 

 rootstocks, erect or ascending, 6 / -i2 / high, simple, 

 or sparingly branched above. Leaves alternate, 

 lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, sessile, i / -2 / long, 

 3 // -4 // wide, serrulate, the lowest much smaller 

 and scale-like; spike terminal, short-peduncled, 

 dense, acute, i / -2 / long; flowers \W long, white 

 or tinged with green; pedicels less than Y*" long; 

 wings orbicular-obovate, concave; crest of the 

 corolla short, few-lobed; seed hairy, slightly longer 

 than the lobes of the caruncle. 



In rocky woods, New Brunswick, western New 

 England to Minnesota and the Canadian Rocky 

 Mountains, south to North Carolina along the Al- 

 leghanies and to Missouri. May-June. 



Polygala Senega latifolia T. & G. Fl. N. A. i: 131. 1838. 

 Stem taller, often branched above; leaves ovate or 

 ovate-oblong, 2' -4' long, acuminate, acute at the base. 

 Maryland and Pennsylvania to Tennessee and Mich- 

 igan. 



14. Polygala alba Nutt. White Milkwort. 

 (Fig. 2286.) 



. . . . 



Polygala Senega var. lenuifolia Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 750. 

 P. t 



Polygala alba Nutt. Gen. a: 87. 1818. 

 Polygala Senega var. lenuifol 



1814. Not P. tenuifolia Willd. 1803. 



Glabrous, stems numerous, erect from hard woody root- 

 stocks, slender, 6'- 15' high. Leaves alternate, narrowly 

 linear, acute, 3 // -ia // long, %"-i" wide, their margins 

 entire and revolute, the lower somewhat broader and 

 shorter, clustered; spike terminal, long-peduncled, dense, 

 i / -2 / long; flowers i"-!^" long, wliite; pedicels less 

 than *" long; wings oblong-ovate, slightly concave; 

 crest of the corolla short; seeds silky, about twice the 

 length of the caruncle-lobes. 



Prairies, Nebraska and Kansas to Texas and Mexico, west 

 to New Mexico and Arizona. May-July. 



15. Polygala polygama Walt. 

 Racemed Milkwort. (Fig. 2287.) 



Polygala polygama Walt. Fl. Car. 179. 1788. 



Glabrous; stems numerous, simple, 4 / -2o / 

 high, erect from a deep slender biennial root. 

 Stem-leaves crowded, oblong or oblanceolate, 

 obtuse, mucronulate, 8"-i2" long, i // -2 // 

 wide, entire, the lower gradually smaller; 

 basal leaves spatulate, sometimes smaller ; 

 raceme terminal, loose, i / -4 / long; pedicels 

 spreading or recurved, i // -2 // long; flowers 

 purple or rose, rarely nearly white, showy, 

 2 // -3 // long; wings broadly obovate; crest of 

 the corolla large, laciniate; stamens 8; subter- 

 ranean branches horizontal, bearing numer- 

 ous, nearly sessile cleistogamous flowers; seeds 

 hairy, longer than the caruncle-lobes. 



In dry soil, Nova Scotia to" the Lake of the 

 Woods, south to Florida and Texas. Local. 

 June-July. 



