Polygala.] XIV. POLYGALEiE. 79 



4. P. rhinanthoides (Rhinanthus-like), Soland. in Herb. R. Br.: Benth. Fl. 

 Austr. i. 140. An erect branching slightly pubescent annual, from an inch or 

 two to above a foot high. Leaves oblong-linear, or rarely obovate-oblong, 

 obtuse or rarely acute, f to l^in. long, glabrous or ciliate, narrowed into a short 

 petiole. Eacemes lateral, short, rather dense, 6 to 10-flowered. Outer sepals 

 lanceolate, with a fine point ; inner sepals broadly ovate, oblique, mucronate, 

 ciliate, 2 to 8 lines long. Keel-petal crested. Ovary broad, ciliate. Style 

 slightly thickened, much curved, entire, with a broad almost petaloid decurved 

 stigma, bearded underneath. Capsule 4 lines long and broad, including abroad 

 wing, pubescent and ciliate. Seeds oblong, hirsute with reflexed hairs, the 

 caruncle deeply 8-lobed. 



Hab.: Endeavour Eiver, R. Brown. 



5. P. arvensis (field), Willd. Spec. PI. iii. 876 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. i. 140. 

 A procumbent or rarely erect annual, branching at the base only, sometimes not 

 exceeding a couple of inches when in full fruit, sometimes the prostrate or 

 ascending branches extending to 6 or Sin. or even more, and usually pubescent. 

 Leaves fromobovate to oblong or linear, \ to fin. long or rarely more. Flowers 

 few, in short sessile racemes, usually lateral, often shorter than the leaves, and 

 rarely lengthening to an inch. Outer sepals very small and narrow ; inner 

 sepals ovate-falcate, acute or mucronate, 2 to 3 lines long, herbaceous and 

 glabrous or slightly pubescent. Corolla about as long, the lateral petals rather 

 large, the crest of the keel fringed. Ovary glabrous. Style scarcely thickened, 

 with an almost petaloid uncinate-decurved stigma, glabrous and glandular under- 

 neath. Capsule rather broad, glabrous or slightly pubescent, not winged. Seeds 

 very hairy.— DO. Prod. i. 826. 



Hab.: Eocbhampton to the Endeavour Eiver. 



A very common East Indian weed, variable in foliage and stature ; the foUowiug forms 

 appearing sometimes constant enough to be considered as distinct species : — 



Var. dbovata. Leaves all obovate, giving the plant the aspect of a young Euphorbia helioscopia. 

 Cavern Island, Carpentaria, R. Brown. 



Var. squarrosa. Leaves narrow. Flowers small and numerous, in oblong racemes, mostly 

 terminal, the inner sepals narrow and falcate. P. squarrosa, Soland. ms. Endeavour Eiver, 

 R. Brmon ; Upper Victoria Eiver, F. v. Mueller. 



3. COMESPERMA, Labill. 



(From hairyness of seeds.) 



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

 keel not crested, the two lateral ones separately attached to the staminal column, 

 and either overlapped by the keel or outside it at the top. 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-eelled. Style incurved, obliquely stigmatic and more or less 

 2-lobed at the top. Capsule coriaceous or almost membranous, usually cuneate 

 and much narrowed at the base, rarely nearly orbicular, opening loculicidally at 

 the edges. Seeds ovate or oblong, pendulous, pubescent or hairy, the hairs 

 lengthening into a coma whenever the capsule is narrowed at the base, without 

 any caruncle at the hilum, but the raphe often expanded into a oaruncular 

 appendage at the opposite end. — Herbs, undershrubs or shrubs, erect or twining. 

 Leaves alternate, usually small. Eacemes terminal. 



A strictly Australian genus, with which was formerly united the Brazilian Bredemeyera 

 (Catocoma, Benth.) ; but, besides the difference in habit, the latter has a more or less fleshy 

 capsule, and the seeds have a long coma proceeding from the hilum ; whilst in Coniesperma the 

 coma, when present, consists of the hairs of the testa, which always extend to the base of the 

 capsule, although the seed is often not half so long. In two species the capsule is that of a 

 Polygala, and the seeds have no coma ; but in those the insertion of the lateral petals, very 

 different from that of Polygala and approaching that of Monnina, is strongly marked. In P. 

 volubilis (which was chiefly taken into account in verifying the characters for our " Genera 



