I 



PolygalaJ] 



XI. rOLYGALACE^. 



51 



Bogs in several parts of Scotland. Near Warrington, Lanca- 

 shire; Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Hampshire, Devon, and probably in 

 several other counties. %, 7, 8. — This has much longer and 

 narrower leaves than the last, and would better deserve the name of 

 longifoiia : the limb is usually at least 10 — 12 times longer than broad, 

 and is so attenuated into the petiole that the commencement of the 



latter is chiefly distinguished by being glabrous, 

 than the last. 



Scape much taller 



Sue-Ord. II. PARNASSIE^. Stigmas 4, sessile^ in a line 

 with the placentas. Stamens 5, perigynous. Capsule 1 -celled, 

 A-volved, Seeds without albumen. Leaves glabrous. 



2. Paknassia Linn. Grass of Parnassus. 



Stamens with as many intermediate nectaries fringed with 

 globular-headed filaments. — Named from Mount Pa7massuSy to 

 which place, indeed, the plant is by no means peculiar ; it is 



called by Dioscorides aypwcrn^ sv np Ilapva(ja(i}. 



1. V.palustris L. (common G.); bristles of the nectary 9 — 13, 

 leaves cordate cauline one amplexicaul. _E. B. t. 82. 



Bogs and wet places; frequent in the North. %, 8 — 10. 

 Leaves mostly radical, on long footstalks, cordate, entire, nerved ; 

 one on the stem (a bractea ?) below the middle, sessile. Stem angu- 

 lar, from 1 inch to usually 8 — 10 inches high. Flower solitary, 

 terminal, large, yellowish-white, handsome. Petals broadly obovate. 

 Nectaries, each an obcordate scale, opposite the petals, fringed along 

 the margin with white hairs which are terminated by a yellow 

 pellucid globular gland. 



0^ 



'N 



a 



Ord. XL POLYGALACE^ Juss. 



Sepals 5, the 2 Inner generally larjre and petalold. Petals 

 3 — 5, more or less united with the filaments of the stamens, 

 which form 2 parcels, each with 4 anthers, opening by pores at 

 the apex. Ovary 1, usually 2-celled. Style and stigma 1, 

 Fruit a capsule, or drupaceous, 2- or 1 -celled; dehiscence locu- 

 licidal. Seeds solitary, pendulous, often with a caruncle at the 

 base. — Shrubs or herbs. Leaves without stipules. Flowers 

 usually racemose. — Several of this family are used medicinally. 

 The leaves are bitter, the roots more or less milky. Polygala 

 Senega is the snake-root of N. America. Krameria of Peru is 

 powerfully astringent, and usually referred here. 



r. Polygala Linn. Milkwort. 



^ CaL with 2 sepals, wing-shaped, and coloured, 

 bined by their claws with the filaments, the lower 



Pet. com- 

 one keeled. 



D 2 



\ 



