588 PLANT LIFE OF ALABAMA. 



MELIACEAE. Melia Family. 



MELIA L. Sp. PI. 1 : 558. 1753. 



Twenty-five species, warm regions of the Old World. Trees. 



PRIDE OF CHINA. BEAD TREE. 



Melia azedarach L. Sp. PL 1:558. 1753. 



WESTERN ASIA TO CHINA AND JAPAN. Cultivated in warmer countries. 



Introduced and extensively cultivated for ornament throughout the Louisianian 

 area. South Carolina to Florida, west to Texas. Escaped to waste places. 



ALABAMA: Mobile, waste places. March 15; flowers lilac, fragrant; fruit ripe in 

 October, amber-colored, retained through the winter. 



Economic uses: Of some value for lumber. Ornamental shade tree. The bark 

 is the "China bark" of medicine. 



Type locality: " Hab. in Syria." 



POLYGALACEAE. Polygala Family, 

 POLYGALA L. Sp. PL 2 : 701. 1753. 1 



About 200 species, temperate and warmer regions of the globe. North America, 

 38. Western and Pacific, 21. Eastern, 27. Southern, 26 or 27. 



Polygala cymosa Walt. Fl. Car. 179. 1788. PINE-BARKEN POND MILKWORT. 



Polygala corymbosa Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2 : 54. 1803. In part. 



Ell. Sk. 2 : 187. Gray, Man. ed. 6, 122. Chap. Fl. 82. 



Carolinian and Louisianian areas. Florida, along the coast to North Carolina, 

 New Jersey, and Delaware, v. est to eastern Louisiana. 



ALABAMA: Lower Pine region. Coast plain. Bogs and shallow ponds. Mobile 

 and Baldwin counties. Flowers bright yellow; June, July. Frequent. Annual or 

 biennial. One and one-half to 2 feet high. Common in open, boggy pine-barren 

 swamps. 



Type locality : South Carolina. 



Herb. Geol. Surv. Herb. Mohr. 



Polygala ramosa Ell. Sk. 2 : 186. 1822. LOW-BRANCHED MILK WORT. 



Polygala corymbosa Nntt. Gen. PL 2 : 89. 181*. Not Michx. 



Ell. Sk. 1. c. Gray, Man. ed. 6, 122. Chap. Fl. 82. 



Carolinian and Louisianiau areas. Distribution as in the last. 



ALABAMA: Lower Pine region. Coast plain. Flat damp pine barrens, borders of 

 pine-barren ponds. Mobile and Baldwin counties. Flowers yellow; June. Fre- 

 quent. Eight to 12 inches high. Biennial. 



Type locality: "Grows in ponds in the flat pine barrens, intermingled with 

 the P. corymbosa^ South Carolina and Georgia. 



Herb. Geol. Surv. Herb. Mohr. 



Polygala lutea L. Sp. PL 2 : 705. 1753. YELLOW BACHELOR BUTTONS. 



Ell. Sk. 2 : 185. Gray, Man. ed. 6, 122. Chap. Fl. 83. 



Carolinian to Louisianian area. From Florida along the coast to New Jersey, 

 and west to eastern Louisiana. 



ALABAMA: Central Pine belt to Coast plain. Damp light soil, copses, open woods. 

 Chilton and Autauga counties. Montgomery to Mobile and Baldwin counties. 

 Flowers deep orange; April to August. Common and most frequent in I he low pine 

 barrens of the Coast plain. Six to 8 inches high. Annual or biennial. 



Type locality : "Hab. in Virginia." 

 Herb. Geol. Surv. 



Herb. Mohr. 



Polygala nana (Michx.) DC. Prodr. 1:328. 1825. DWARF MILKWORT. 



Polygala lutea var. nana Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2 : 54. 1803. 



P. viridescens Walt. Fl. Car. 178. 1788. Not L. 



Ell. Sk. 2 : 186. Chap. Fl. 83. 



Carolinian and Louisianian areas. South Carolina to Florida, and west to eastern 

 Louisiana. 



1 Wm. E. Wheelock, The genus Polygala iu North America, Mem. Torr. Club, 

 vol. 2, pp. 109 to 152. 1891. 



