Genus i. 



MILKWORT FAMILY. 



451 



13. Polygala Senega L. Seneca Snakeroot. 

 Mountain Flax. Fig. 2707. 



Polygala Senega L. Sp. PI. 704. 1753. 



Polygala Senega latifolia T. & G. Fl. N. A. i ; 131. 1838. 



Perennial, glabrous or nearly so, stems several, 

 from woody rootstocks, erect or ascending, 6'-i8' 

 high, simple, or branched above. Leaves alternate, 

 lanceolate to ovate or oblong-lanceolate, sessile, 

 1-2' long, 3"-4" wide, serrulate, the lowest much 

 smaller and scale-like; spike terminal, short-pedun- 

 cled, dense, acute, i'-2' long; flowers li" long, 

 white or tinged with green; pedicels less than i" 

 long; wings orbicular-obovate, concave; crest of the 

 corolla short, f ew-lobed ; seed hairy, slightly longer 

 than the lobes of the caruncle. 



In rocky woods, New Brunswick to Hudson Bay, Al- 

 berta, south to North Carolina along the Alleghanies and 

 to Missouri and Arkansas. Rattlesnake snake-root. 

 Senega-root. May-June. 



14. Polygala alba Nutt. White Milkwort. 

 Fig. 2708. 

 Polygala alba Nutt. Gen. 2; 87. 1818. 



Polygala Senega var. tenuifolia Pursh. Fl. Am. Sept. 750. 

 1814. Not P. tenuifolia Willd. 1803. 



Perennial, glabrous, stems erect from hard woody root- 

 stocks, slender, 6'-i$' high. Leaves alternate, narrowly 

 linear, acute, 3"-: 2" long, V-i" wide, their margins entire 

 and revolute, the lower somewhat broader and shorter, 

 clustered; spike terminal, long-peduncled, dense, i'-2'long; 

 flowers i"-ii" long, white; pedicels less than i" long; 

 wings oblong-ovate, slightly concave; crest of the corolla 

 short; seeds silky; about twice the length of the caruncle- 

 lobes. 



Prairies, South Dakota to Nebraska, Kansas, Texas and 

 Mexico, Montana, New Mexico and Arizona. May-July. 



15. Polygala polygama Walt. Racemed 

 Milkwort. Fig. 2709. 



Polygala polygama Walt. Fl. Car. 179. 1788. 

 P. polygama abortiva Chodat, Mem. Mus. Gen. 

 31^: 280. 1893. 



Biennial, glabrous ; stems numerous, simple, 

 4'-2o' high, erect from a deep slender root. 

 Stem-leaves crowded, oblong or oblanceolate, 

 obtuse, mucronulate, 8"-i2" long, i"-2" wide, 

 entire, the lower gradually smaller; basal 

 leaves spatulate, sometimes smaller; raceme 

 terminal, loose, 1-4' long; pedicels spreading 

 or recurved, i"-2" long; flowers purple or 

 rose, rarely nearly white, showy, 2"-3" long, or 

 some of them small and cleistogamous ; wings 

 broadly obovate; crest of the corolla large, 

 laciniate; stamens 8; subterranean branches 

 horizontal, bearing numerous, nearly sessile 

 cleistogamous flowers ; seeds hairy, longer 

 than the caruncle-lobes. 



In dry soil. Nova Scotia to Manitoba, Michigan, 

 Florida and Texas. Local. Bitter or pink milk- 

 wort. Centaury. June-July. 



