MILKWORT FAMILY 



POLYGALACE^E MILKWORT FAMILY 



Poly gala polygama, Walt. 



Dull magenta Century (local name), 



Bitter Milkwort, 

 July-September Pink Milkwort. 



Polygala: for derivation see cruciata. 

 Polygama: Greek for many marriages. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: dry, sandy soil of the Commons. 



THE PLANT: in low and spreading tufts; the stems four 

 inches to twenty inches high, unbranched, angled, without 

 hairs. 



THE LEAVES: numerous; alternate; light dull green or 

 dark magenta; oblong or lanceolate; without hairs; thick; 

 obtuse or capped with an abrupt tip at the apex; entire. 



THE FLOWERS: in a loose raceme, at the ends of the leafy 

 stems. Albinos have been found. 



THE FRUIT: a capsule. 



A very satisfactory plant, for it keeps a week or more in 

 the house and is quite decorative. On the Commons, 

 where it ^grows in great abundance, there are flattened 

 rosettes of small, dull crimson, irregularly shaped flowers 

 (with a touch of white from the stamens), that grow in 

 delicate, loose clusters on the tinted, leafy stem. In the 

 colour of the flowers only does it suggest the Scotch 

 heather and in that way only remotely. Still, it is fre- 

 quently mistaken for heather. 



An interesting feature of the plant is the cleistogamous 

 or closed flowers on the underground branches. 



Two other members of the Milkwort Family have been 

 reported. 



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