Family 2. POLYGALACEAE 



By Sidney Fay Blake 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees, sometimes scandent, often with glands in the tissue 

 of the leaves, sometimes also in the flowers or fruits. Leaves alternate, op- 

 posite, or whorled, simple, entire, short-petioled, without stipules or with 

 small corneous often peziziform stipular glands. Flowers perfect, zygomor- 

 phic, racemed, spicate, or rarely panicled or solitary, each subtended by a 

 bract and two bractlets. Sepals 5, free or the two lower united, one posterior, 

 two anterior, two lateral and interior, the latter (wings) usually much larger 

 and petaloid. Petals 3, or rarely 5, hypogynous, the anterior one (keel) 

 boat-shaped, often with a terminal beak or fimbriate crest, the two upper 

 usually ligulate or ovate, often galeate, usually united to the staminal sheath 

 at base and often also to the keel, the two lateral rarely present, short, free, 

 exterior. Stamens usually 8, rarely 3-7, the filaments united for most of 

 their length into a sheath split on the upper side and usually united at base 

 to the keel or upper petals or both, or rarely free; anthers usually confidently 

 1 -celled, opening by a subterminal pore. Intrastaminal disk present or reduced 

 to a gland at base of ovary or wanting. Gynoecium of 1 or 2, rarely 3-5, united 

 carpels; style solitary; stigma 2-lobed. often tufted. Ovules solitary, rarely 

 2-6, pendulous. Fruit a capsule, drupe, or samara, loculicidally dehiscent or 

 indehiscent. Seeds solitary in each cell or rarely (in extralimital forms) 2, 

 usually pubescent, arillate, and with endosperm. Embryo straight, axial. 



Ovary and fruit 2-celled; fruit a dehiscent capsule, very rarely with one of the cells 



abortive. 1. Polygala. 



Ovary and fruit 1 -celled; fruit indehiscent. 



Keel with a plicate crest; fruit a samara, with a large wing on the lower side. 2. Elsota. 



Keel not crested; fruit drupe-like, slightly fleshy, not at all or only very obscurely 



winged, or samaroid, narrowly and nearly equally winged on both margins. 3. Monnina. 



1. POLYGALA L. Sp. PI. 701. 1753. 



Phylax Noronha, Verh, Batav. Gen. 5*: 3, nomen nudum. 1790. 



Psychanthus Raf. Speech. 1: 116. 1814. 



Triclisperma Raf. Speech. 1: 117. 1814. 



Badiera DC. Prodr. 1: 334. 1824. 



Brackytropis DC; Reichenb. Consp. 120. 1828. 



Sexilia Raf. New Fl. 4: 87. 1838. 



Plostaxis Raf. New Fl. 4: 87. 1838. 



Antlialvtea Raf. New Fl. 4; 88. 1838. 



Corymbula Raf. New Fl. 4: 88, hvponym. 1838. 



Zoroxus Raf. New Fl. 4: 88. 1838. 



Asemcia Raf. New Fl. 4: 88. 1838. 



Pilostaxis Raf. New Fl. 4: 89. as synonym. 1838. 



Isolophus Spach, Hist. Veg. 7: 112. 1839. 



Tricholophus Spach. Hist. Veg. 7: 114. 1839. 



Chamaebuxus Spach, Hist. Veg. 7: 125. 1839. 



Senega Spach, Hist. Veg. 7: 128. 1839. 



irdium Zoll. Tijdschr. Nederl. Ind. 17: 245. 1858. 

 Phlebolaenia Griseb. Mem. Am. Acad. II. 8: 156. 1860. 

 Microlophium Fourr. Ann. Soc. Linn. Lyon II. 17: 195. 1869. 

 Helerosamara Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 47. 1891. 

 Galypola Nieuwl. Am. Midi. Nat. 3: 179. 1914. 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees, never scandent, rarely with spinescent branches. Leaves alternate, 

 sometimes opposite or whorled, simple, entire, short-petioled, very rarely with stipular glands. 

 Volume 25, Part 4, 1924] 30.5 



