150 POLYGALACE^. Polygala. 



Bart. Jl. Am. Sept. 2. t. 46. P. purpurea, Nutt. gen. 2. p. 88 ; DC. prodr. 1. p. 328 ; 

 Beck, hot. p. 44 ; DarUngt. jl. Cest. p. 401 ; Ton: <^- Gr. Jl N. Am. 1. p. 127. 



Annual. Stem 8-12 inches high, erect, sometimes simple, angular and slightly winged. 

 Leaves about an inch long and 2 lines wide. Spike at first nearly globose, at length oblong, 

 obtuse, 4 - 5 lines in diameter; lower flowers deciduous : bracts minute, the middle one 

 longer than the pedicel. Wings usually dilated at the base, or somewhat cordate, rose-color 

 and green, generally twice as long as the fruit. Style much dilated and cucullate in the 

 middle, with a filiform bearded process at the summit. Seed grayish-black, hairv ; processes 

 of the caruncle linear. 



Moist meadows and sandj' fields ; rather common. July - September. 



2. Polygala cruciata, Linn. Cross-leaved Milk-wort. 



Spikes ovate, dense, sessile or on short peduncles ; wings deltoid-cordate, acute or cuspi- 

 date ; crest minute ; caruncle nearly as long as the seed ; stem somewhat fastigiately branched, 

 winged on the angles ; leaves verticillate in fours, linear and linear-spatulate, dotted. — Michx. 

 jl. 2. p. 52 ; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 89 ; DC. prodr. 1. p. 328 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 183 ; Bigel. Jl. Bost. 

 p. 266; Hook. Jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 85 ; Beck, hot. p. 45; Torr. <^- Gr. Jl. N. Am. 1. p. 127. 

 P. brevifolia, Nutt. I. c. ; DC. I. c. P. cuspidata. Hook. ^- Arn. in hot. journ. 1. p. 195. 



Annual. Stem 4-8 inches high, with opposite somewhat erect branches. Leaves about 

 an inch long and 2 lines wide, marked with obscure resinous dots. Spikes at first dense, 

 usually sessile or nearly so, finally an inch or more in length and nearly half an inch in 

 diameter. Wings greenish with a purple margin, longer than the capsule. Lateral petals 

 oblong. Style as in the preceding species. Seed obovoid oblong, sparsely hairy ; lobes of 

 the caruncle linear. 



Sphagnous swamps ; not rare in the southern parts of the State, but seldom found in the 

 interior counties. August - September. 



§ 2. Spikes elongated or racemose .- keel cristate : Jilameiits united nearly to the summit : style 

 dilated and cucullate in the middle : appendage oj the caruncle 2-lobcd. 



3. Polygala verticillata, Linn. WHiorl-leaved Milk-wort. 



Spikes pedunculate, acute, dense ; rachis naked ; wings roundish-obovate ; crest con- 

 spicuous ; stem erect, branching ; leaves mostly verticillate, linear and lanceolate-linear, 

 glandularly dotted. — Michx. Jl. 2. p. 54 ; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 89 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 182 ; Bigel. Jl. 

 Bost. p. 206; DC. prodr. \.p. 329 ; Hook. Jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 85 ; Beck, hot. p. 45; Dar- 

 Ungt. Jl. Cest. p. 402 ; Torr. ^- Gr. Jl. N. Am. 1. p. 130. 



Annual. Stem slender, (piadrangular, 6- 10 inches high; branches erect, elongated. 

 Leaves an inch long and 1^ line wide, mostly in whorls of 4 or 5, but sometimes partly or 

 entirely alternate, acute. Spike an inch long, about 2 lines in diameter at the base, tapering 



