POLYGALA SPECIOSA. 
= — MILKWORT. 
DICOTYLEDONE. 
Natural) division 
to which 
this Plant belongs. 
NATURAL ORDER, poraatacue, 
THALAMIFLOR&, {nor divisions bs, “temo 
OF to which 
DECANDOLLE. ee Plant aN oy gro 
GENUS. Porraliuap weber Cavers | som rastentia, 2 interiora 
aleformia.. Peraza 3-5 tubo nr ae 
ed Fi, a4 apa Pe 1 
0 
Senin ms ager o carune 
S. Pouxeara Specrosa. Sims. , Pcie inferioribus + congo 
chat obtusis, oribus linearibus, ramisque virgatis glabris, b racteis 
deciduiss pedicellis patulis, alis subrotundis. spp CAN DOLLE. Prodromus Sys. 
tematis lis Regni Vegetabilis, Part I, p 
GENERIC CHARACTER OF POLYGALA, an € — of 5 per- 
sistent sepals, of which the two interior are wing-sha +a 3-5, 
united to the tube of the stamens, the inferior keel- Ahaped, ( pro- 
bably formed of two petals cohering.) CapsuLe compressed ellip- 
tical obovate, or heart-shaped. Seeps with hairy pubescence, 
caruneulated at the hilum, not comose. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE Species, 
shrubby, erect, 5-6 feet high, n 
SPECIOSA. STEM 
, green, ae to 
times mucronate. Flowers i in terminal racemes, large, shewy ; bracts 
deciduous : three exterior sepals. rs ake small, Song two interior 
large, wing-shaped, purple, beautifully vein 
small, the third large, keel-shaped, ae, yi eight, united 
at the base-into a two-cleft tube. ° AnTHERS oblong, adnate. Styx 
nearly enclosed “by the keel, pela curved, stigma two-cleft, 
REFERENCE TO THE owt 
1, Shows the pistil, with three al, the ors attached; the remaini C) wing-shaped petaloid = 
pals are ews at a 4, 2, to a tube, E 3, 
The bearded keel-shaped petal, sometimes called the crest. To the common observer r these constitu- 
ent parts of the flower 7 Polygal a will seem to resemble those se a apie flower, although 
essentially different. These oe and the natural affinities of the plant, will come unde’ 
sideration in the eu 
