POLTGALACE^E. (MILKWORT FAMILY.) 87 



wings on shorter claws ; and the narrow caruncle not longer than the stalk-like 

 base of the pear-shaped seed. 



- - Leaves, at least the lower ones, in whorls. 

 w Flowers middle-sized, in thick spikes, rose-color or greenish-purple. 



7. P. eruciala, L. Low, with spreading opposite branches; leaves 

 nearly all in fours (rarely fives), linear and somewhat spatulate or oblanceolate ; 

 spikes sessile or nearly so, dense, oblong becoming cylindrical ; bracts persistent ; 

 wings broadly deltoid-ovate, slightly heart-shaped, tapering to a bristly point ; caruncle 

 nearly as long as the seed. Margin of swamps, Maine to Virginia and south* 

 ward near the coast, and along the Great Lakes. Aug. - Sept. Stems 3' - 1(X 

 high, with almost winged angles. Spikes fully ' in diameter. 



8. P. brevifolia, Nutt. Rather slender, branched above ; leaves in fours, 

 or scattered on the branches, narrowly spatulate-oblong ; spikes peduncled, ob- 

 long, rather loose ; wings lanceolate-ovate, pointless or barely mueronate. Margin 

 of sandy bogs, Rhode Island (Olney), New Jersey and southward. Sept, 

 Closely allied to the last, probably only a marked variety of it. 



** ++ Flowers small, in slender elongated spikes, greenish-white, rarely tinged 

 purple : the crest rather large in proportion. 



9. P. verticillata, L. Slender (6' -10' high), much branched; sfow,- 

 kaves in fours or Jives, those of the branches scattered, linear, acute ; spikes pe 

 cled, dense, acute; bracts falling with the flowers; wings round, clawed. 

 2-lobed caruncle half the length of the seed. Dry soil ; common. June-Ot 



10. P. ambiglia, Nutt. Very slender, loosely branched ; lowest 

 leaves in fours, the rest scattered, narrowly linear ; 'spikes long-peduncled, very&f 

 der, the flowers often scattered; wings oval ; caruncle shorter; otherwise nr-fc<: 

 as in No. 9 (of which it is probably a mere variety). Dry woods, from >"" 

 York southward. 



* * * Perennial : flowers white, spiked ; no subterranean blossoms. 



11. P. Senega, L. (SENECA SNAKEROOT.) Stems several from a 

 thick and hard knotty root, simple (6' -12' high) ; leaves lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, with rough margins, alternate; spike cylindrical, the flowers on 

 extremely short pedicels ; wings round-obovate, concave ; crest short ; caruncle 

 nearly as long as the seed. Rocky open woods or plains, W. New England 

 to Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Virginia. May, June. 



Var. latifolia, Torr. & Gray. Taller (9' -16' high), sometimes branched; 

 leaves ovate or ovate-lanceolate, very large (2' -4' long), tapering to each end. 

 Kentucky, Short. 

 * # * * Biennial or perennial: flowers rose-purple, showy, crested; also bearing 



whitish and inconspicuous more fertile ones, with imperfect corollas, on subterranean 



branches. 



12.' P. polygama, Walt. Stems numerous from the biennial root, 

 mostly simple, ascending, veiy leafy (6' to 9' high) ; leaves oblanceolate or oblong, 

 alternate ; terminal raceme many-flowered, the broadly obovate wings longer than 

 the keel; stamens 8; radical flowers racemed on short runners on or beneath 

 the ground; lobes of the caruncle 2, scale-like, shorter than -he seed. (P, 

 rubella, Muhl.) Dry sandy soil ; common. July. 



