1390 



POLLINATION 



or two other varieties to more than offset the slight 

 inconvenience in orchard management occasioned by 

 this mixing. The chief economic problem for the experi- 

 menter, therefore, is to determine what commercial 

 varieties may be planted together with best results; 

 and the rational course for the fruit-grower is to prac- 

 tice mixed planting on the basis of such experiments. 

 S. W. Fletcher. 

 POLYANTHUS. In common speech Polyanthus 

 means the florists' flowers supposed to be derived 

 chiefly from Primula elatior or its allies. The "Poly- 

 anthus Narcissus" of trade catalogues is one of the 

 forms of Narcissus Tazetta, an old synonym of which 

 was Narcissus Pohjanthos. Polyanthus may also mean 

 the tuberose, Polianthes, which see. There is no genus 

 known as Polyanthus. 



POLYBOTRA. SeeAcrostichum. 



POLYCALYMMA. See Myrioeephalii^. 



POLYGALA (Greek, much milk; from the old idea 

 that some species increased the flow of milk). Puli/- 

 galdcea. 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 2celled, wing-margined or wingless; seeds soli- 

 tary in the cells. Monographed by Chodat in M^m. Soc. 

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

 can species, see Robinson, Gray's Syn. Fl. Vol. I, p. 4-49. 



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. paucifolia is excellent, because of its fringed 

 flowers. Of the European kinds P. Chamtebuxus 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. paucifolia can be prop, 

 by division. 



There are 40 or more North American species, but 

 most of Ihem 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 Botanical Magazine, 13 in the 

 Botanical Cabinet, and 7 in the Botanical Register. 

 Ernest Braunton writes that "P. mijrtiMia and its va- 

 rieties are very commonly cult, in Calif., particularly 

 the one known in gardens as P. DalmacimioT P. Dalma- 

 tiaita; this flowers all the time and is very popular." 

 The popularity of P. Dalmaisiaua 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 the standard authorities, except 

 Nicholson's Dictionary. Nor is it known to be adver- 

 tised in America. The spelling Dalmatiana shows that 

 some gardeners have thought the name a geographical 

 one. The plant was named after M.DaImais,a French gar- 

 dener,who raised it from seed in 1839. 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. gmndiriora and P. cordifolia." In modern 

 nomenclature this probably means P. myrtifolia, var. 

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



POLYGALA 



tures, however, do not seem to show any trace of the- 

 latter parent. As known in the trade, P. Dalmuisiana 

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

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

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

 makes a good pot-plant, but is somewhat bare 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." 

 A. Plants hardy. 



B. Fls. showy, X-/4 in. long. 



C. Keel beautifully fringed paucifolia 



cc. Keel merely 4-lobed Chamaebuxus- 



BB. Pis. not showy. 



c. Inflorescence a spike: fls. not 



pedicelled Senega 



cc. In'lorescence a rar,i,i,:: fls. 



pedicelled polygama 



AA. Plants tender. 



B. Sabit shrubby, erect, 2-i ft. high m- 



c. Lvs. opposite oppositifolia 



cc. I/vs, alternate. 



D. Lateral petals 2-cut myrtifolia 



DD. Lateral petals not Z-eut virgata 



apopetala 

 BB. Habit dwarf, 1 ft. or less high amatymbica 



paucifdlia, Willd. Flowering Wintergreek. Gay- 

 wings. Fringed Milkwort. Fringed Polygala. Fig. 

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

 1'.,' in. long; lower lvs. 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 lvs. or appear- 

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

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

 B.M. 2852 (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. 



Chamaebuxus, Linn. Bos-leaved Milkwort. Ever- 

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

 nate; lower lvs. smaller, obovate: peduncles axillary 

 and terminal, about 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. purpiirea has purple wings, 

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

 wings rosy pink). 



S6nega, Linn. Seneca Snakeroot. Mountain Flax. 

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

 greenish, VA lines long; crest small, few-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: lvs. 1 in. or less 

 lont;: tls. purple or rose, rarely nearly white, 2-3 lines 

 long; crest relativelv large, laciniate. June, July. Dry 

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

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



oppositifdlia, Linn. Probably the only species in the 

 genus with opposite lvs.; an abnormal thing in the 

 whole family. Tall, slender shrub: racemes few-fld.: 

 fls. large, purplish. S. Afr. — Harvey gives 8 botanical 

 varieties, of which probably the commonest in cult, is 

 Yar. cordita, Harv. (P. cordifdlia, Thunb., not PresL). 

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

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

 B.M. 492; 2438. B.R.8:636; 14:1146, and L.B.C. 12:1189 

 (all under various names). 



myrtifblia, Linn. Readily told from P. virgata, its 

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

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



