44 11. POLTGALACE^. 



1. PoLYGALA. Sep. 5, persistent ; 2 inner (wings) broader 

 and often petal-like. Cor. irregular. Pet. 3 — 5, connected 

 together ; the lower one keelshaped. Caps, compressed. 

 Seeds solitary, with a 3-pointed basal aril. — Fl. crested. 



1. PoLT'eAiA Linn. Milkwort. 



1. P. mdgdris (L.) ; I. scattered, lower I. smalhr oblong, upper 

 1. linear-lanceolate, cal. -wings elliptic mucronate their veins 

 branched the lateral joining a branch of the central vein, caps, ob- 

 cordaie, lateral bracts shorter than the pedicels. — St. prostrate, 

 ascending. L. scattered. Racemes terminal. Fl. blue, pink, 

 or white. Central vein of wings nearly simple ending in a 

 mucro; lateral only branched externally; branches joining in 

 loops and also with the upper ones of the central vein. Lobes 

 of aril unequal, blunt, lateral ones J as long as the seed which 

 is a little stalked within the aril. Upper part of st. and ped. 

 sometimes pubescent (P. ciliata Lebel). P. oxyptera (E.) is a 

 state with smaller fl., and fr. broader than the wings. — ^. P. de- 

 pressa (Wend.) ; lower 1. mostly opposite and crowded, st. long, 

 prostrate, wiry, racemes ultimately lateral. P. serpillacea 

 Weihe. — A plant from Ben Bulben, Sligo, has large lanceolate 

 upper 1., oval apiculate cal. -wings whose lateral veins r^'oin the 

 mostly simple central vein near its tip and have many netlike 

 veins externally ; deep-blue flowers. It is probably a fine state 

 of this species and may be the var. grandiflora (W. and G). — 

 Dry pastures and peaty fens. P. VI. — IX. E. S. I. 



2. P. calcdrea (F, Sch.) ; I. chiefly in an irregtdar terminal 

 rosette large obovate blunt those of fl.-st. short smaller lanceo- 

 late, cal. -wings oblong their veins branched the lateral looping 

 with a branch from near the middle of the central vein, caps, 

 oblong-obcordate, lateral bracts shorter than the pedicels. — P. 

 amara Don, E. B. S. 2764. P. amareUa Coss. et Germ. Atl. t. 

 7. — St. weak, procumbent or ascending, nearly naked below. 

 Fl.-st. several from the axils of the term, rosette, simple, short: 

 racemes temunal. Fl. blue. Lobes of aril unequal, lateral ^ as 

 long as seed. — Chalk bills of the S.E. of England, rare. P. V, 



E. 



3. P. austriaca (Or.) ; loiger I. larger obovate blunt in a basal 

 rosette, upper 1. oblong-lanceolate, cal. -wings oblong or obovate 

 blunt their veins simple or slightly branched free, caps, wedge- 

 ghaped below roundish broader than the wmgs, lateral bracts 

 shorter than the pedicels.^P. uliginosa R. I. i. f. 40. 41. P. 

 amara Sv. Hot. t. 484. ^Rosette at the crown of the rootstock ; 

 1. much the largest, broad, rounded at the end. Fl.-st. from 

 the axils of the rosette, simple, short ; upper 1. acute ; racemes 

 terminal. Cal.-wings longer than caps, (in our plant). Lobes 



