POL VGA LA CEA E. 5 83 



Leaves verticillate and alternate; spikes 4-6 mm. thick, acute. 



Verticillate leaves predominating; spikes dense; flowers green to purplish. 



6. P. verticillata. 

 Alternate leaves predominating; spikes loose, long; flowers more purple. 



7. P. ambigua. 

 Leaves all alternate. 



Petals united into a cleft tube, 6-8 mm. long; flowers pink. 8. P. incarnata. 

 Petals not conspicuously united into a tube. 

 Spikes ovoid to globose. 



Bracts persistent; flowers rose-purple to white. 



Spikes blunt; wings broadly ovate. 9. P. virtdescens. 



Spikes acutish ; wings narrowly ovate or elliptic. 10. P. Curtissii. 

 Bracts deciduous; flowers rose-purple. n. P.Mariana. 



Spikes cylindric. 



Leaves oblanceolate to linear, 4-12 mm. long; flowers greenish to purplish. 



12. P. N ut t allii. 



Leaves lanceolate, 2,5-5 cm - l n g, flowers white or greenish. 13. P. Senega. 

 Spikes elongated-conic; flowers white. 14. P. alba. 



* * * Flowers distinctly racemose, rose or purple. 



15. P. polygama. 

 * * * * Flowers 1-4, large, axillary, but apparently terminal, rose-purple to white. 



16. P. paucifolia. 



1. Polygala cyraosa Walt. TALL PINE-BARREN MILKWORT. (I. F. f. 

 2273.) Stem erect, 6-9 dm. high, slightly angular. Basal leaves 5-7.5 cm. long, 

 4-6 mm. wide, entire, densely tufted; stem-leaves linear-subulate, scale-like, I-i.6 

 cm. long; pedicels 2-4 mm. long; bracts persistent; flowers drying greenish 

 black; seeds globose, minute, nearly glabrous, caruncle none. In wet pine bar- 

 rens, Del. to Fla., west to La. May-July. 



2. Polygala ramosa Ell. Low PINE BARREN MILKWORT. (I. F. f. 2274.) 

 Stems tufted or single, 1.5-4 dm. high. Stem-leaves linear-oblong, obtuse, 1.2-2 

 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide; basal leaves much broader and often larger; inflorescence 

 7.5-15 cm. broad; flowers 3 mm. long, drying dark green; pedicels 2 mm. long 

 or less; wings oblong, acuminate; crest minute; seed hairy, twice or thrice as long 

 as the caruncle. In low pine barrens, Del. to Fla., west to La. June-Sept. 



3. Polygala lutea L. ORANGE MILKWORT. WILD BACHELOR'S BUTTON. 

 (I. F. f. 2275.) Stems tufted, at length divaricately branched, 1.5-3 dm. high. Stem- 

 leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute or obtuse, 1.5-3 cm. long, 4-8 mm. wide, entire; 

 spike-like racemes ovoid or oblong, very dense, 1.25-4 cm. long, 1.2-1.8 cm. 

 thick, obtuse; flowers 4-6 mm. long; pedicels 2-4 mm. long; wings oblong-ovate, 

 abruptly acuminate; crest of the corolla-tube minute; caruncle-lobes linear, about 

 equalling the hairy seed, or shorter. In pine-barren swamps, L. I. to Fla., Pa. 

 and La. June-Oct. 



4. Polygala cruciata L. CROSS-LEAVED OR MARSH MILKWORT. (I. F. f. 

 2276.) Erect, 1-4 dm. high, at length freely branching above. Stem square or 

 slightly wing-angled; leaves of the stem and branches in 4*5, or a few of them scat- 

 tered, linear or oblanceolate, 1.25-4 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, entire, obtuse, 

 mucronulate; spike-like racemes oval, 8-18 mm. thick, sessile or short-peduncled; 

 pedicels slender, 3-4 mm. long; bracts persistent; wings sessile, somewhat cordate, 

 3-6 mm. long, much exceeding the pods; crest of the corolla minute; seed oblong, 

 slightly hairy, about equalling the caruncle. In sandy swamps, Me. to Fla., 

 Minn, and La. July-Sept. 



5. Polygala brevlfolia Nutt. SHORT-LEAVED MILKWORT. (I. F. f. 2277.) 

 Resembling the preceding species, but lower, more slender and weaker. Leaves 

 shorter, often scattered on the branches and upper part of the stem; spikes smaller, 

 6-10 mm. thick, on slender peduncles; wings obtuse or mucronulate. In sandy 

 swamps, R. I. to Fla. and Miss. Summer. 



6. Polygala verticillata L. WHORLED MILKWORT. (I. F. f. 2278.) Slen- 

 der, 1.5-3 dm. high, usually branched. Stem-leaves linear, 6-30 mm. long, 1-4 

 mm. wide, acute, entire, punctate, mucronulate, mostly in 4's or 5*5, with some 

 scattered ones on the stem or branches; spikes conic, long-peduncled. acute, 4 mm. 

 thick at the base, very dense, 8-20 mm. long; pedicels about I mm. long; wings 

 broadly oval, distinctly clawed, shorter than the pod; crest of the corolla manifest; 

 seed oblong, hairy, twice the length of the caruncle; bracts deciduous. In dry or 

 moist soil, Quebec and Out. to Minn., Saskatch., Fla., Colo, and Mex. June-Nov. 



