XIV. POLYGALE^. 77 



A considerable Order, widely dispersed over nearly the whole globe. Of the four Australian 

 genera, one is the largest and most extensively diffused of the whole Order, here represented by 

 a very few species of an Asiatic or African type ; two others are Asiatic, extending to Australia ; 

 the third is endemic. - Benth. 



Sepals nearly equal. Anthers 4 or 5. Flowers minute, in terminal spikes 1. Salomonia. 

 Inner sepals larger and petal-like. Anthers 3. 

 Capsule ovate or orbicular, scarcely contracted at the base. Seeds not 

 coraose. 

 Lateral petals united with the carina (which is always crested in the 



Australian species) 2. Polyoala. 



Lateral petals adnate to the staminal column, but distinct from the 



carina (which is not crested) 3. Comesperma. 



Capsule cuneate, \ery narrow at the base. Seed hairs forming a long coma 3. Cojiespebma. 

 Sepals neai'ly equal. Petals 5. Stamens 8, free, 1 or i.:aperfeotly 2- 

 celled. Ovules numerous. Fruit globose, indehisoent 4. Xanthophyllcm. 



1. SALOMONIA, Lour. 



(After the Hebrew king Solomon.) 



Sepals nearly equal, the 2 innermost rather larger. Petals 3, united in a single 

 corolla open on the upper side, the keel not crested. Stamens united nearly to 

 th-e top into a sheath open on the upper side, and adhering to the corolla at the 

 base ; anthers 4 or 5. Ovary 2-eelled. Capsule thin, flat, obcordate or trans- 

 versely oblong, usually ciliate, opening loculicidally at the edges. Seeds orbi- 

 cular, with a minute or without any caruncle. — Small slender herbs, either 

 annual or parasitical on roots. Leaves alternate, sometimes reduced to minute 

 scales. Flowers very small, in terminal spikes. 



The few species known are all natives of tropical Asia, the most common one extending into 

 Australia ; but none have yet been found in Africa. 



1. S. oblongifolia (oblong-leaved), DC. Prod. i. 334 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. i. 

 138. A slender glabrous annual, erect and simple, or slightly branched at the 

 base, 3 to 5, or rarely 6in. high. Leaves sessile, the larger ones oblong, 3 to 4 

 lines long, and scarcely above 1 broad, the lower ones small and ovate. Flowers 

 pink, scarcely a line long, in terminal leafless racemes or loose spikes of about an 

 inch or rarely longer. Capsule about 1 line broad, but not so long, flattened, 

 didymous, bordered with a fringe of hairs or slender teeth.— Deless. Ic. Sel. iii. t. 

 19 ; S. obmiata, Wight, Illustr. t. 22. 

 Hab.: All along the Queensland coast. 



■ 2. POLYGALA, Linn. 



(From supposed eifect of increasing the secretion of milk.) 



Sepals unequal, the 2 innermost, or wings, large and petal-like. Petals 3, 

 united in a single corolla open on the upper side, the keel bearing a crest-like 

 appendage on the back near the top, or rarely (in species not Australian) 8-lobed. 

 Stamens 8, united to above the middle in a sheath open on the upper side, and 

 adnate to the petals at the base. Ovary 2-celled. Style various. Capsule thin 

 or rarely coriaceous, flattened, obovate, ovate, or orbicular, usually notched at the 

 top, opening loculicidally at the edges. Seeds ovate or oblong, hairy or glabrous, 

 but the hairs not lengthened into a coma, with or without a caruncle at the 

 hilum. — Herbsi undershrubs, or shrubs. Leaves usually alternate or whorled. 

 Racemes or spikes terminal or lateral, rarely axillary. 



A very large genus, abundant in tropical countries, and generally also in temperate regions, 

 except in Australia, where it is, with one exception, limited to the tropical districts, and in New 

 Zealand, where it is entirely absent. Of the 7 Australian species, 3 are widely spread over 

 tropical Asia, and the 4 others, although endemic, are nearly connected also with corresponding 

 Asifttio ones. — Benth, 



