POLTGALACEiE. 37 



at first blue, rose colour, piuk, or white, but becoming greenish 

 after flowering ; the veins usually darker, but not very prominent. 

 Petals a very little longer than the wings, the lower one with a 

 crest of narrow segments at the apex. Capsule shorter and a little 

 narrower than the calyx wing, obovate, much compressed, sur- 

 rounded by an herbaceous wing, which is notched at the apex, so 

 that the general figure of the capsule appears obcordate. Seeds 

 oblong-ovoid, blackish brown, with a white 3-lobed strophiole, of 

 which the lateral lobes do not reach quite half-way down. Whole 

 plant nearly glabrous except the stem, which is frequently slightly 

 pubescent towards the top. 



Var. ^ I have not seen. 



Var. 7 has the flowers considerably smaller,being from ^g to^inch 

 long, the wings much narrower, and the capsule broader in propor- 

 tion, much exceeding the width of the wing, and a little greater than 

 its length when mature ; the leaves are rather less crowded, and the 

 stems less erect, branched higher up, and the growth more scrubby. 



Var. 8 is a much smaller plant, and might perhaps be consi- 

 dered as a distinct sub-species. The stems are much more tortuous, 

 and spread out flat on the ground, only rising slightly at the apex. 

 The flowers are ^ inch long, with the wings extremely broad. The 

 stem is thickly clothed with small curled hairs. The most distinctive 

 mark, however, is the ciliation of the margins of the parts of the 

 flower, especially of the calyx wings. The lower leaves are more 

 spreading than in any of the other varieties, or are even slightly 

 reflexed, and there is a more decided break in shape and size between 

 the broad and the narrow leaves. In many respects it approaches 

 P. depressa ; but the stiffer and straighter stems in more compact 

 tufts,and the racemes being always terrainal,lead me toplace it rather 

 under eu-vulgaris. It is certainly the same as Dr. Lebel's plant, of 

 which I possess specimens through the kindness of M. Lenormand. 

 It has not, so far as I know, been noticed in this country until now. 



Common Milkwort 



Fi'ench, Polygala Commun. German, Gemeine Kreuzhlume. 

 This common plant belongs to the same genus as the Snake-Root (Polygala Senegn) 

 of "Materia Medica," and possesses in some degree the same properties. The pow- 

 dered root has been given in dosesof half a drachm in pleurisy, and the infusion is said 

 to have been used with advantage in coughs; for this purpose a decoction is recom- 

 mended, made by boiling an ounce of the herb with a pint of water : it seems to 

 act as an expectorant, but in lai-ger doses is cathartic and emetic. The whole plant is 

 extremely bitter. The old English names of this plant, according to Gerarde, are 

 Cross-flower, Rogation-flower, and Jlilkwort, which latter name suggests the virtues 

 ascribed to it as an assistant to wet-nursing. He says : " It is vulgarly known in 

 Cheapside to the herbe women by the name of Hedge Hyssop, and sold to such as are 

 fgnoraut for the same." Foreigners sjieak of it as a grateful and nutritious food fur 

 cattle. According to Swedish experiments, cows, sheep, and goats eat it, but swine 

 refuse it. 



