220 POLYGALACEiE. 



four, or rarely three, stamens in each. Sometimes they are plainly diadel- 

 phous, as in Polygala paucifolia (Plate 184), which i^ doubtless the normal 

 plan in this family ; the andrcecium of P. Senega (Plate 183, Fig. 4), con- 

 sisting of two such phalanges united anteriorly. I suppose, moreover, that 

 each phalanx answers to a single stamen, which is quadrupled, or occasionally 

 only doubled or tripled, by collateral deduplication, in the same way as in 

 Fumariaceas.* Do they represent the two anterior, or the two lateral sta- 

 mens? The simple anthers opening by a terminal orifice, which are charac- 

 teristic of this family and the Tremandreae, are not essentially unlike those 

 of a few Leguminosee. But the dicarpellary pistil with a two-celled ovary, 

 and the albuminous usually carunculate seeds, not to mention the hypogy- 

 nous insertion of the corolla and stamens, draw a striking line of separation 

 between these two families, which nevertheless closely approach each other 

 through Krameria. On tlie other hand, the Polygalaceae are thought to ex- 

 hibit more points of resemblance with Sapindaceae than with any other fam- 

 ily, except the Tremandreas. Inso far as this approximation is based upon 

 the apparent agreement in the prevalent number of the stamens (eight), it 

 would have no real foundation if the type of Polygalaceae is diandrous, with 

 the number of anthers increased by deduplication, as is suggested above. 



This family is widely diffused throughout the temperate and tropical parts 

 of the world ; and the typical, which is by far the largest genus, is equally 

 widely distributed over the Old and New Worlds in both hemispheres. 

 There are about thirty known species of Polygala in extratropical North 

 America, nearly all of which belong to the United States proper. It is the 

 only genus which occurs in this country. 



Several plants of the family are employed in medicine, of which the most 

 celebrated is our Seneka Snakeroot (Polygala Senega, L.], so called from 

 its use by the aborigines of this country as an antidote to the poison of the 

 rattlesnake. This " has been successfully employed as an emetic, a stim- 

 ulant, an expectorant, a sudorific, a diuretic, and in fact to fulfil almost 

 every indication." Others are very bitter and tonic, such as our P. polyga- 

 ma and P. paucifolia; while some are merely emetic, like a Brazilian spe- 

 cies which forms one of the false Ipecacuanhas. Several species, of widely 

 distant parts of the world, have the reputation of being antidotes to snake- 

 bites. Saponaceous and detergent qualities prevail in Monnina, the bark of 

 which is used by the Peruvians as a substitute for soap. The drupes of 

 Mundia, of the Cape of Good Hope, are edible. 



* Vide Vol. I. p, 118. 



