58 P0LYGALACEJ3. Viola. 



* * * Stems very short, usually clustered, from a deep subterranean rootstock : leaves 

 all divided : flowers yellow ; spur very short. 



11. V. chrysantha, Hook. More or less pubescent with short spreading hairs: 

 leaves bipinnatiiid with narrow oblong or linear segments ; stipules lanceolate, 

 entire or toothed : peduncles equalling or exceeding the leaves, 2 to 5 inches long : 

 flowers usually large : petals 5 to 9 lines long, bright yellow, the upper brown- 

 purple on the outside, the others veined, the lateral ones not bearded : stigma 

 slightly hairy below the rounded summit : capsule 5 lines long, acute : seeds large. 

 — Ic. PI. t. 49 ; Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechey, 325 ; Kellogg, Proc. Calif. Acad, 

 ii. 229, fig. 72. 



In dry soil on low hills from Monterey (Douglas) and Knight's Ferry (Bigelow) to Mendocino 

 Co. (Bolander) and northward ; Snake Country, Tolmie. 



12. V. Beckwithli, Torr. & Gray. Glabrous or pubescent : leaves broadly 

 cordate in outline, 3-parted ; the divisions lobed and cleft into linear or oblong seg- 

 ments : peduncles about equalling the leaves : petals 4 to 7 lines long, very broad, 

 the upper purple, the others yellow with purple veins, the lateral ones bearded and 

 the lower deeply emarginate : stigma lightly bearded at the sides : capsule obtuse. — 

 Pacif. R. Pep. ii. 119, t. 1. V. montana, Kellogg, Proc. Calif. Acad. i. 56. 



In the central Sierra Nevada upon hoth sides of the range, from Alpine Co. (Anderson) to Sierra 

 Co. (Zemmon) : Diamond Mountains, N. Nevada, Beclcwith. 



1 3. V. Sheltonii, Torr. Glabrous or nearly so : leaves as in the last : petals 

 rather smaller, narrower, all yellow, veined with purple, the lateral ones and the 

 stigma glabrous ; lower petal not emarginate. — Pacif. R. Rep. iv. 67, t. 2. 



In the northern Sierra Nevada, in Plumas, Sierra, and Nevada counties, Rev. Mr. Shelton, Bige- 

 low, Le.nvm.on, Mrs. Pulsifer Ames. 



Order XII. POLYGALACE5I. 



Herbs or shrubs, with simple entire leaves and no stipules, remarkable for the 

 papilionaceous-looking flowers (but of structure unlike the papilionaceous corolla), 

 monadelphous or diadelphous stamens coherent with the petals, and one-celled 

 anthers opening at the top ; — an order not closely related to any other, to which is 

 appended the very peculiar genus Krameria. 



1. POLYGALA, Tourn. 



Sepals 5, very unequal, the 2 lateral ones large and petal-like (called wings). Pet- 

 als 3, united to each other and to the stamen-tube, the middle one (or Tceel) hooded 

 above and often crested or beaked. Stamens 6 to 8, the filaments united below 

 into a split sheath, adnate at base to the petals : anthers 1-celled, often cupshaped, 

 opening at the apex. Ovary 2-celled : ovules solitary, pendulous, anatropous : 

 style long, curved, dilated above: stigma terminal or apparently lateral. Capsule 

 membranaceous, flattened contrary to the narrow partition, rounded and often notched 

 above, loculicidal at the margin. Seed carunculate at the hilum : embryo large, 

 straight, with thin albumen. — Herbaceous or somewhat shrubby ; with simple 

 entire leaves, and racemose or spicate flowers. The Californian species are perennials 

 with a woody base, alternate leaves, and few large flowers in terminal racemes. 



A genus of some 200 species, of the temperate and warmer zones, represented hy 30 or more 

 species in the region east of the Rocky Mountains. A hitter principle is common to the genus, 

 of medicinal value in some instances. 



